First Down
Ever since 2014, the college football playoff has been a four-team race in an attempt to win the national championship. Before it was created, college football consisted of one championship game between the No.1 and No.2 teams in the country. Fans wanted this changed so that more teams would be able to compete in a playoff-type format. Thus, the four-team playoff was created. Fast forward nine years later, and the format still remains. At this moment in time, numerous fans are advocating for a twelve-team playoff; one that would be similar to what the NFL does and gives more teams a chance to become champions.
Second Down
I’m 100% on the fans’ side of things. The current playoff layout in my opinion is ridiculous. The same few teams like Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Ohio State are consistently in the playoffs nearly every year and I’m pretty tired of it. To put this into context, Alabama has been in the playoff seven of the nine years it has been a thing. Similarly, Clemson has been in the playoffs six total times along with Ohio State, who has sent four different teams to the playoff. All this to say, the current four-team playoff format is simply repetitive and I’m tired of seeing the same annoying programs in it every year. The playoff should be changed to a twelve-team one, which will give more teams the opportunity to compete for a championship.
Third Down
After a few years of constant debates about this topic everywhere, the NCAA finally came to a resolution that would be fair to all parties involved. On Sept. 2 of this year, the NCAA broke the news that the college football board of managers had approved a twelve-team playoff. The new format was unknown as to when it would come into play. However, just recently, the NCAA announced the twelve team format would come in the beginning of the 2024 season. This format is very similar to the NFL and their fourteen-team playoff. My thinking on this is why not make college football similar to the NFL? Most players will be moving on to the NFL eventually so why not prepare them for what they will endure in the future?
Fourth Down
Moving forward, the long-awaited decision by the college football world has officially gone in favor of what the people want. There will be no more Alabamas and Clemsons of the world that reign the playoff year in and year out. Instead, the new format gives non power five teams an opportunity to compete. It also gives other teams an opportunity to play in a playoff when they don’t win or play in their conference championship game. In the current format, if a team wins their conference championship game they are given a strong chance at a playoff berth assuming they have at least one or possibly even two losses. Furthermore, many loaded conferences like the SEC and Big Ten have at least a few teams that didn’t make the conference championship, yet still have enough big wins and not too many losses to potentially play in the playoffs. Despite this, teams that don’t win their conference or play in their conference championship game are already at a disadvantage and their playoff hopes are nearly gone. However, with the new twelve-team format in place, this will no longer be an issue.
Overtime
I, for one, am overjoyed about this new college football playoff format. At last, teams are all given a fair shot at winning a championship. This change could potentially result in multiple different teams winning a championship every season. Good luck to the “powerhouses” of college football, because y’all are no longer the “alpha” of the playoff.
