Dodd: Hopes raised for College Football Playoff expansion agreement as interest in 16-team model grows

[BleedGopher]

per Dodd:

Just as it looked like College Football Playoff expansion was heading towards finality, conference realignment started by Texas and Oklahoma jumping to the SEC put the entire process on hold. Last month's meeting of the FBS commissioners in Park City, Utah, went so well that those who spent the last year battling over CFP expansion seem to be edging closer to settling on a format.

"We didn't solve anything, but we had a really good meeting," one of the participants at the gathering told CBS Sports. "I came out of that meeting pretty optimistic. Then, five days later, boom. I don't know what kind of effect we had on it. We had the best meeting we had in over a year."

That "boom" moment came June 30 when word leaked that USC and UCLA were joining the Big Ten. But even since then, commissioners have been optimistic about CFP expansion to the point that Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren recently expressed interest in a 16-team model.

"I do want to look at 16," Warren told CBS Sports at the Big Ten Media Days. "I want to look at all of them. I want to look at everything but four."

Hopes raised for College Football Playoff expansion agreement as interest in 16-team model grows

Key players finally appear willing to make concessions in hopes of arriving at a mutually agreed upon format

www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Gophers_4life]

I'm not clicking on that silly clickbait.

This is nothing more than the art of taking a real, but completely innocuous comment and trying to spin it into some huge thing that it never was.

 

[Goldmember]

16 isn’t going to happen in any of their lifetimes.

 

[Gophers_4life]

This stuff always happens in baby steps.

We went from nothing (Bowl games with predetermined conference matchups), to 2 (BCS championship game), to 4 (current CFP).

We're going to jump from 4 directly to 16? No chance.


8 makes the most sense as the next step, but 12 is possible.

 

[Word]

This stuff always happens in baby steps.

We went from nothing (Bowl games with predetermined conference matchups), to 2 (BCS championship game), to 4 (current CFP).

We're going to jump from 4 directly to 16? No chance.


8 makes the most sense as the next step, but 12 is possible.

There have been a lot of things in college football that have moved at the speed of light in the past year. All logic and tradition are out the window.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

call me cynical, but I suspect that the TV networks will have a say in the deal.

one way or another, TV will indicate its preferred format.

and when you write the big checks, that carries a lot of weight.

personally, I can live with 8 or 12. I think 16 is a bit much.

but selfishly, if it is 16, then that gives teams like MN something to hope for in a special season.

 

[Cedar Rapids Gopher]

I think they should keep it the way it is. Then do a Big 10 tournament. Keeps more of the money in the BIG.

 

[GopherinPhilly]

Why should the big ten and sec share the wealth? two 20 team conferences with 4 divisions...put all 8 division winners in the playoffs and have the big ten winner play the sec winner for the trophy. Feel free to call them 6 bowl games and roll with it...

 

[Gophers_4life]

call me cynical, but I suspect that the TV networks will have a say in the deal.

one way or another, TV will indicate its preferred format.

and when you write the big checks, that carries a lot of weight.

personally, I can live with 8 or 12. I think 16 is a bit much.

but selfishly, if it is 16, then that gives teams like MN something to hope for in a special season.

Or you can say it waters it down, like having 40 bowl games, when a bowl game used to mean something special.

There most definitely are not 16 teams in a given year that are realistic contenders to win a natty.

 

[Dave H]

But there are 64 teams that could win one in basketball? What a bs argument...

 

[Gophers_4life]

But there are 64 teams that could win one in basketball?

This is a great point, since we could obviously just have 64 football teams cram into 8 sub-regional sites and crank out 48 football games in a single Thurs-Sunday period.



Thanks for the apples to oranges comparison.

 

[GoldGoldGold]

This is a great point, since we could obviously just have 64 football teams cram into 8 sub-regional sites and crank out 48 football games in a single Thurs-Sunday period.



Thanks for the apples to oranges comparison.

Another way to look at it is this. There are 358 D1 basketball teams which means 18% of them make the field of 64. There are 130 D1 football teams and 16 would be just over 12%. You'd need 23 teams to about equal basketball %. Maybe you could do it by including four more bowls into the mix for the championship chance.... I dunno....

 

[Gophers_4life]

Another way to look at it is this. There are 358 D1 basketball teams which means 18% of them make the field of 64. There are 130 D1 football teams and 16 would be just over 12%. You'd need 23 teams to about equal basketball %. Maybe you could do it by including four more bowls into the mix for the championship chance.... I dunno....

Football teams only play one game per week. I don't think any other NCAA sport is like that. So it will never be comparing apples to apples.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

all I was saying --

If the Gophers have a great year, they might be a top-15 team and make a 16-team playoff.

but the fewer teams in the playoff, the odds of the Gophers qualifying drop.

In order for the Gophers to be a top-12 team, they would probably have to roll out a 10-2 or 11-1 season.

to be a top-8 team, have to go 11-1 with wins over a couple of traditional powers.

and for the Gophers to make a 4-team playoff, they would have to run the table and win the B1G title game.

so, the more teams in the playoffs, the better chance the Gophers have of qualifying.

 

[60's Guy]

I think 12 teams has merit. You give the top 4 teams byes. This only adds one more game to the top 4 seeds. You feel like you beat all comers if you win it all. The first 8 teams to play are happy they are in the playoffs except for the 5 seed who thinks they were better than the 4 seed and if they win they play them next. (5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10, 8 vs 9) 8-9 winner vs 1, 7-10 vs 2, 6-11 vs 3 and 5-12 vs 4.) You probably wanna be a top 6 seed for best hopes.
12 it is...Gophers win the West and we're in. Let's do this! I like it!

 

[Gophers_4life]

I think 12 teams has merit. You give the top 4 teams byes. This only adds one more game to the top 4 seeds. You feel like you beat all comers if you win it all. The first 8 teams to play are happy they are in the playoffs except for the 5 seed who thinks they were better than the 4 seed and if they win they play them next. (5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10, 8 vs 9) 8-9 winner vs 1, 7-10 vs 2, 6-11 vs 3 and 5-12 vs 4.) You probably wanna be a top 6 seed for best hopes.
12 it is...Gophers win the West and we're in. Let's do this! I like it!

If there wasn't a defacto extra week of the regular season devoted to conference championship games, it would be a lot easier to both justify and logistically plan for an additional round (beyond 8) of playoff bracket.

I really don't think beyond 8 is justified, right now, but I also think the cat is out of the bag, down the street, and run over by a bus -- TV money dictates everything.

 

[Donovan]

Why should the big ten and sec share the wealth? two 20 team conferences with 4 divisions...put all 8 division winners in the playoffs and have the big ten winner play the sec winner for the trophy. Feel free to call them 6 bowl games and roll with it...

I mentioned this idea to a coworker last week. TV rights to the B1G/SEC playoffs would be huge. Before the BCS came into existence, the AP and UPI voted for their national champion and presented a final top 20. We just go back to that idea. Odds are the SEC/B1G winner would be voted national champion. However, I could see years where the SEC/B1G winner has 2 or 3 losses and an outside conference undefeated or maybe 1 loss team is voted champion.

This would bring back the relevance of bowl games. The B1G and SEC teams not in the championship game could play in bowl games.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Why should the big ten and sec share the wealth? two 20 team conferences with 4 divisions...put all 8 division winners in the playoffs and have the big ten winner play the sec winner for the trophy. Feel free to call them 6 bowl games and roll with it...

That's how I feel.