From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about what we would do if we were in charge of our favorite position group, team, conference, or sport. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”If I Was in Charge” articles here.
The College Football Playoff always needed to be expanded. That was evident from the very first season of its existence in 2014. Ironically, it was Ohio State getting in as the No. 4 seed that sparked controversy with the eventual champs getting in over TCU and Baylor.
TCU was the No. 3 team in the country going into Conference Championship Weekend, where they blew out Iowa State 55-3. Ohio State was ranked No. 5 going into the Big Ten Championship against Wisconsin, with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones making his first start. The Buckeyes blew out Wisconsin 59-0, which was enough to leapfrog TCU into the Playoff, and we all know what happened from there.
But many years of controversy with the four-team playoff ensued, peaking in 2023 when a one-loss Alabama team controversially got in over an undefeated Florida State team, which had been decimated by injuries. Alabama went from No. 8 to No. 4, despite having one loss. Florida State was undefeated, and they didn’t get a shot to play for the National Championship.
While the playoff expansion had already been planned for the following season, for many, that was the final straw. Now at 12 teams, the incentive to win a conference championship is even greater. The four highest-ranked conference champions all get a bye into the quarterfinals of the CFP, and the next-highest-ranked conference champion still gets into the 12-team playoff. The other eight teams are at-large bids.
But why do the four highest seeds have to be conference champions? Wasn’t Texas a better team than Boise State, who was the No. 3 seed by virtue of winning the Mountain West? I think most college football fans would agree that the ‘Horns were more deserving of the bye, but Texas had to play in the first round because they lost in the SEC Championship Game to Georgia.
Let’s say, though, that this season there is a team that’s undefeated going into its conference championship game. They lose. So, that means they have to play in the first round of the CFP, all because they lost just one game that happened to be their conference championship game? That shouldn’t be.
Arizona State won the Big 12 Championship last season, and they got a bye into the quarterfinals as a result. But were they one of the four best teams in the playoffs? Would they pass that eye test? Undoubtedly not.
This is why I’m proposing the four byes going to the four best teams as opposed to the four highest-ranked conference champions.
Along with that, I’m still proposing that all four Power Four conference champions get into automatic berths into the playoff. If a Power Four team wins a conference championship, it should absolutely get into the Playoff. They should be rewarded for a huge accomplishment, especially in the age of conference expansion creating 16, 17, and 18-team conferences.
To give the Group of Five conferences something meaningful to play for, the highest-ranked conference champion from those five leagues should also get into the CFP.
But if one of these conference champions is, let’s say, 9-4, that doesn’t scream, to me at least, first-round bye worthy. They shouldn’t get a bye over a team that’s 11-2 or 12-1 that just so happened to lose in its conference championship game.
The byes being open to any team in the 12-team Playoff, not just the four highest-ranked conference champions, is the change I would make to the College Football Playoff. Conference championships are a massive part of the College Football Playoff selection, but they’re not the end-all-be-all; or at least they shouldn’t be.
Look at how many great teams were in the playoffs last year who didn’t win a conference championship. Look at Texas, which rolled in its first season in the SEC. But because they didn’t win an SEC title, they had to play in the first round. They had to win four games to win the national championship as opposed to three.
This change would enable teams that don’t win a conference championship to still be considered for a first-round bye and only have to win three games in the College Football Playoff. The difference between having to win three or four games to win a national championship is substantial enough that this change would undoubtedly impact who wins national titles, at least if I were in charge.
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