Jim Harbaugh, the head football coach at the University of Michigan, stated during the Big Ten Conference (B1G) media day before the start of this year's college football season (which begins August 25, although the first games featuring B1G teams is August 30) that he would like the College Football Playoff (CFP) that determines the unofficial national champion in NCAA Division I FBS college football expanded to eight teams, with an expansion to sixteen teams being a long-term goal, as well as eliminating conference championship games:
I strongly support the idea of expanding the College Football Playoff to at least eight teams. Last season's CFP featured four teams from the same region of the country, and the team that won the CFP, Alabama, failed to qualify for the Southeastern Conference championship game, and one team, Central Florida, had an undefeated season that included victories in both the American Athletic Conference title game and the bowl game that they were invited to, despite not being invited to the CFP. An eight-team CFP would have enough available spots for a spot for each of the conference champions of a Power Five conference (B1G, SEC, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Pac-12 Conference, and Big 12 Conference (XII)), and still have room for a spot for one conference champion of a Group of Five conference (American Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference (MAC), Conference USA (C-USA), Sun Belt Conference, and Mountain West Conference), a spot for one independent school with at least a .750 regular season winning percentage, and an at-large spot. The only major change that the CFP would have to make for an eight-team CFP is that four of the six bowl games that are part of the current CFP semifinal rotation would have to be moved into the week before New Year's Day so that they could serve as quarterfinal games, although each team in an eight-team quarterfinal would have at least two weeks rest (if Army and/or Navy qualified) or at least three weeks rest (for most other teams) before the CFP quarterfinals.
However, Harbaugh's idea of eliminating conference championship games is ridiculous and unnecessary. If not all of the teams within a conference play each other in the regular season, not having a conference title game could lead to multiple undefeated teams within the same conference, something that conferences prefer to avoid. Also, it would be possible to squeeze in a 16-team College Football Playoff into a four-week period following the week of the Army-Navy game (scheduled for December 8 of this year; game has been held on the second Saturday of December each year since 2009). The week of the third Saturday of December could serve as the Round of 16 week with Round of 16 games being played at the higher seeded team's normal home stadium, and, in order to guarantee that teams that are invited to the CFP play at least two postseason games, the losers in the Round of 16 could be given spots in bowl games that are not part of the CFP but are held after the Round of 16 games of an expanded CFP. Four of the six bowl games that are in the current CFP rotation could serve as quarterfinal games played during the week of the fourth Saturday in December, and the other two bowl games could serve as semifinal games played no earlier than New Year's Day, similarly to how an eight-team CFP could work. More importantly, a 16-team CFP would have enough spots for all Division I FBS conference champions, a spot for an independent school with at least a .750 winning percentage, and, assuming there are still ten FBS conferences if and when the CFP is expanded to 16 teams, still have room for five at-large spots, and the CFP selection show and Heisman Trophy awards ceremony could be held as part of the same program after the conclusion of the Army-Navy game.
In short, Harbaugh's proposal to reform the College Football Playoff is half-great and half-terrible.Jim Harbaugh on @CFBPlayoff expansion: "Let's go to 8 and eventually 16." Says to eliminate the conference championship game to get there and keep number of games reasonable. pic.twitter.com/KVsezXrura— Hawkeye Headquarters (@HawkeyeHQ) July 23, 2018
I strongly support the idea of expanding the College Football Playoff to at least eight teams. Last season's CFP featured four teams from the same region of the country, and the team that won the CFP, Alabama, failed to qualify for the Southeastern Conference championship game, and one team, Central Florida, had an undefeated season that included victories in both the American Athletic Conference title game and the bowl game that they were invited to, despite not being invited to the CFP. An eight-team CFP would have enough available spots for a spot for each of the conference champions of a Power Five conference (B1G, SEC, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Pac-12 Conference, and Big 12 Conference (XII)), and still have room for a spot for one conference champion of a Group of Five conference (American Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference (MAC), Conference USA (C-USA), Sun Belt Conference, and Mountain West Conference), a spot for one independent school with at least a .750 regular season winning percentage, and an at-large spot. The only major change that the CFP would have to make for an eight-team CFP is that four of the six bowl games that are part of the current CFP semifinal rotation would have to be moved into the week before New Year's Day so that they could serve as quarterfinal games, although each team in an eight-team quarterfinal would have at least two weeks rest (if Army and/or Navy qualified) or at least three weeks rest (for most other teams) before the CFP quarterfinals.
However, Harbaugh's idea of eliminating conference championship games is ridiculous and unnecessary. If not all of the teams within a conference play each other in the regular season, not having a conference title game could lead to multiple undefeated teams within the same conference, something that conferences prefer to avoid. Also, it would be possible to squeeze in a 16-team College Football Playoff into a four-week period following the week of the Army-Navy game (scheduled for December 8 of this year; game has been held on the second Saturday of December each year since 2009). The week of the third Saturday of December could serve as the Round of 16 week with Round of 16 games being played at the higher seeded team's normal home stadium, and, in order to guarantee that teams that are invited to the CFP play at least two postseason games, the losers in the Round of 16 could be given spots in bowl games that are not part of the CFP but are held after the Round of 16 games of an expanded CFP. Four of the six bowl games that are in the current CFP rotation could serve as quarterfinal games played during the week of the fourth Saturday in December, and the other two bowl games could serve as semifinal games played no earlier than New Year's Day, similarly to how an eight-team CFP could work. More importantly, a 16-team CFP would have enough spots for all Division I FBS conference champions, a spot for an independent school with at least a .750 winning percentage, and, assuming there are still ten FBS conferences if and when the CFP is expanded to 16 teams, still have room for five at-large spots, and the CFP selection show and Heisman Trophy awards ceremony could be held as part of the same program after the conclusion of the Army-Navy game.
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