After SEC coaches scuttled the previous plan with the 4-4-2-2-1-1 auto bids format (since they thought it was in their best interest to have more open bids); coaches Smart and Heupel have thrown support behind the B1G's 24 team playoff.
A bit surprised that Smart has changed his mind so early as even with the SEC adding another conference game, UGA should be in pretty much every year even with the current 12 team format (guess he's getting concerned with how much $ the Texas schools and others with deep pocketed donors can throw into their programs).
With someone with the credibility/weight like Smart now supporting the 24 team format, expect more and more SEC coaches to join which will force Sankey to change his tune (again).
Going beyond a 16 team playoff will open the door to more networks/streaming services being able to bid on games, whereas currently, ESPN has a monopoly.
Don't have much of an issue going to 24 teams, especially if 8 teams play in a "play-in" in lieu of the increasingly irrelevant and potentially damaging conference championship game; so it would essentially be a 16 team playoff with 4 play-in games.
The play-in games would not only have significantly more on the line, but would help alleviate the problem with uneven schedules (better to have things settled on the gridiron than in a committee room).
Much has been made of how NIL and the portal has spread out the talent, but another factor helping that has been greater accessibility to competing for the national championship.
When it was just the top 2 ranked teams (or even the top 4), it was basically the same 5-7 schools that had access.
Players want to be able to compete for the natty, and as the no. of teams in the playoff have expanded, we have seen greater disbursement of talent.
This not only helps in making the pathway to the playoff more accessible for the Cats, but helps in talent acquisition as well.
Another considering is the growing noise about a "superleague" which encompasses every P4 school where broadcasting rights would be bundled together (hurting the B1G and SEC and helping the ACC and B12).
www.cbssports.com
A bit surprised that Smart has changed his mind so early as even with the SEC adding another conference game, UGA should be in pretty much every year even with the current 12 team format (guess he's getting concerned with how much $ the Texas schools and others with deep pocketed donors can throw into their programs).
With someone with the credibility/weight like Smart now supporting the 24 team format, expect more and more SEC coaches to join which will force Sankey to change his tune (again).
Going beyond a 16 team playoff will open the door to more networks/streaming services being able to bid on games, whereas currently, ESPN has a monopoly.
Don't have much of an issue going to 24 teams, especially if 8 teams play in a "play-in" in lieu of the increasingly irrelevant and potentially damaging conference championship game; so it would essentially be a 16 team playoff with 4 play-in games.
The play-in games would not only have significantly more on the line, but would help alleviate the problem with uneven schedules (better to have things settled on the gridiron than in a committee room).
Much has been made of how NIL and the portal has spread out the talent, but another factor helping that has been greater accessibility to competing for the national championship.
When it was just the top 2 ranked teams (or even the top 4), it was basically the same 5-7 schools that had access.
Players want to be able to compete for the natty, and as the no. of teams in the playoff have expanded, we have seen greater disbursement of talent.
This not only helps in making the pathway to the playoff more accessible for the Cats, but helps in talent acquisition as well.
Another considering is the growing noise about a "superleague" which encompasses every P4 school where broadcasting rights would be bundled together (hurting the B1G and SEC and helping the ACC and B12).
Kirby Smart, Josh Heupel embrace 24-team CFP format: Why more SEC coaches could follow suit
With SEC coaches publicly open to the idea, momentum for a 24-team playoff may be gaining steam
www.cbssports.com
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