By John Mesh
From the Bench
What exactly will we get from a 24-team College Football Playoff? Well, we will get one national champion and 23 participation trophies.
But ESPN is giving the big-time programs about $400 million for the TV rights.
There will be no more conference championship games and more rewards for Notre Dame and the Power Four conferences (SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC).
Former University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban is one of the biggest critics of the proposal. Saban won seven national titles (six at Alabama and one at LSU) and now is an analyst for ESPN’s GameDay college football preview show.
Saban said there aren’t enough talented players and teams for a 24-team College Football Playoff system.
“There’s not 24 teams in the country that deserve to be in the playoffs,” Saban said on ESPN GameDay. “I don’t think there’s 24 teams in the country that can win the championship. We’ve now lowered the bar to get in the playoffs.
“It’s also going to create an expectation that if you don’t get in the playoff, we’re going to fire your ***.”
Saban said he would be in favor of a 16-team format.
“I think that would be a good compromise,” he said. “I would be for keeping conference championship games as maybe a play-in for the 16? Which, now, you have 20 teams that have hope. But I don’t think there’s much support for that. I don’t think anybody really likes that.”
So we have ESPN doing both sides of the issue like usual: Criticizing it and making money from it.
What is the proposal?
- Field Size: 24 teams total (with proposals discussing a mix of at-large bids, Power Four conference representation, and a guaranteed spot for a Group of Six program).
- Byes: The top 8 seeds will earn a first-round bye and host second-round games on their home campuses.
- First Round: Teams seeded No. 9 through No. 24 will compete in eight first-round campus games.
- Conference Championships: The expanded format is expected to eliminate traditional conference championship games.
According to ESPN, a 24-team bracket would consist of seven SEC schools, six Big Ten schools, five Big 12 schools, four ACC schools, Notre Dame and one school from the Group of 6.
I agree with Saban about very little, but I agree with him on the College Football Playoff proposal: It’s about the money. Hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The bottom line is money. That’s the bottom line,” Saban said.