The Future of the College Football Playoff
After more than a week of buildup, the Cinderella story of the TCU Horned Frogs came to an abrupt end last night. The surprising contenders in the College Football Playoff, TCU came in as heavy underdogs against defending champion Georgia Bulldogs. The 13.5-point spread was the largest in title game history and, as we found out, for good reason.
The rout was well in hand by the middle of the second quarter, with the final 65–7 score highlighting how dominant the Bulldogs were the entire game.
The 58-point blowout was the largest in college football title game history, easily outpacing the previous high of 38. That drubbing came in 2004 when the high-powered offense of the USC Trojans defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in the BCS title game.
While Georgia fans were undoubtedly happy with the result and how easily the team won, other teams fans were left wanting. If our school can’t be fighting for the championship, we at least want to see a great game. This expectation was built up even more after the spectacular finish to the semifinal games, both of which came down to the final plays.
College football fans may be in for more blowouts in the future, though, as the playoff field is set to expand starting the 2024 season. Twelve teams will scrap it out for the right to be crowned the national championship, tripling the current set of 4.
While the larger field will allow more fan bases to be hopeful that they could be celebrating at the end of it all, many fear that it will only lead to more one-sided championships. An at-large number 10 team with blatant flaws could play great for two games and find itself in the championship, only to get decimated like TCU did. Or that team could also ride the wave of momentum and pull off a major upset. It’s far too early to tell right now.
What we do know is that many new teams will find themselves in contention for the championship. If the expanded field had begun this year, seven teams would be making their playoff debut. TCU, Tennessee, Utah, USC, Penn State (We Are), Kansas State, and Tulane would have all made the cut this year.
The fact that Pac-12 champion Utah, Big 12 champion Kansas State, and AAC champion Tulane did not make the playoff is one of the reasons that many wanted the field to grow. ACC champion Clemson also found itself out of the playoff this year.
The teams who were left out, though, all showed major flaws in their game throughout the season and many had already lost to teams that did make the playoffs. A 3-loss Utah team would have found itself as the third ranked conference champion with a bye week. Ohio State already lost to Michigan during the regular season, with Penn State having lost to both of them. USC lost to Utah twice during the season.
Many will argue that the good teams win games they’re supposed to, but football is a fickle game. One bad day for an offensive lineman could lead to a blown block and a crushing sack that could take their star quarterback out of the game. This could happen during any game, but it would be made all the worse if it was against a team that had already beaten earlier in the season.
The move to a larger playoff was inevitable. The amount of TV-deal and NIL money being thrown about only expedited the process. It’s the same reason why the NFL expanded its own playoffs years ago and is adding more games to its schedule. In the words of Cardi B, sports leagues “make money moves.”
The question will now become of who will be the next TCU. Which team will get within reach of glory, only to be crushed by a team of players destined to be playing on Sundays? I’m sure we’ll all tune in to see who it will be, which is the ultimate goal of the expansion, isn’t it?
