A 12-Team Playoff Would be Great for College Football

The College Football Playoff, which was implemented in 2014, features the top four ranked teams in the country with the winner being crowned the National Champion. It's made for some exciting moments in recent history, but many people believe it’s still a flawed system.

ESPN reports that now the College Football Playoff management committee will consider expanding the playoff to feature an additional eight teams, which means we could see a 12-team playoff in the near future.

The proposed format would include the six highest ranked conference champions, and the six highest ranked non-conference champions. There’s nothing in the report that indicates any conference champion will get an automatic bid.

"No conference would qualify automatically and there would be no limit on the number of participants from a conference," the report states.

The committee is set to meet in Chicago next week to discuss details.

If we use the current National Championship odds on WynnBET to determine what a 12-team playoff might look like, there would be some interesting matchups.

Based on betting odds, we could see a first round matchup between Alabama (current favorite at +325) and Oregon (12th on the odds list at +4000). Other matchups would include Ohio State versus UNC, Oklahoma versus Florida, and Georgia versus Texas A&M.

Of course there is usually a team from a non-power conference that sneaks into the AP Top 10. It's a yearly tradition for people to question just how good the team is, but they would never be selected in the current playoff format.

Think of the 2017 UCF Golden Knights out of the AAC, who finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record, but was not selected to participate in the College Football Playoff. They ended up finishing their season with a 13-0 record after defeating No. 7 Auburn in the Peach Bowl.

In a 12-team format, we will never be left wondering if those teams have what it takes to truly beat the best of the best.

Based on last year’s final AP rankings, we could see intriguing matchups like Notre Dame versus Cincinnati, Texas A&M versus Iowa State, and Ohio State versus BYU.

I’m all in on the 12-team playoff, and I hope it gets implemented as soon as possible. Unfortunately, CFP executive director Bill Hancock has said it won’t be implemented this year or next.