The first four-team College Football Playoff hasn’t even happened yet, and one of the most influential people in college sports has already decided he wants a different system. ACC commissioner John Swofford said on Wednesday that he prefers an eight-team playoff in order to take some of the controversy out of the decision:
One power-conference commissioner already wants to expand College Football Playoff
Is an eight-team playoff ultimately the end goal?
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Speaking at Wednesday’s weekly Durham Sports Club meeting at the Croasdaile Country Club, Swofford said an eight-team playoff, “in terms of the number of teams, would probably be ideal.”
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“I don’t think all the controversy’s going to go away,” Swofford said of the new system. “You have four teams that get a chance to play for the national championship, which is twice as many as before, but whoever’s fifth or sixth is not going to be happy. There will be some conferences that won’t have a team in the playoff.”
At least one of the power five conferences will be left out of this year’s Playoff, and as one of the weaker power conferences, the ACC could be in trouble if its only undefeated team, Florida State, loses. The Seminoles have already been punished for having a weak strength-of-schedule, and with one loss, they would almost certainly be on the outside looking in.
With a four-team playoff, the Big Ten and Big 12 would both be out if it started today, but in an eight-team playoff, the Big Ten would have a representative and the Big 12 would have two. Swofford likely won’t be the only commissioner to speak out about adding more teams in the future, and ultimately, the four-team playoff could just be a stepping stone between the BCS and an all-out eight-team playoff that mimics most other leagues.
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