If you think Florida State deserved a spot in the four-team school football playoffs, then you’re probably just as stupid: that the arrival of a 12-team format will even break the trail of controversy over who deserves it and who doesn’t. Play. for long-running national championships.
This will be the case.
This will increase whining.
Given that the CFP’s final standings of the top 25 teams in the 133-member NCAA Division I Football Bowl subdivision will be from those dozens of teams starting in 2024, complaints combined with complaints are just one season away for those who finish in 13th place. 14 and probably 15-20.
Oh, and for those beyond.
This is especially true now that the greats of school football are about to see their playoffs grow from millions to billions. Specifically, when the 12-team format first became a reality in June 2021, USA Today estimated that such an expansion would increase the event’s average annual price. from approximately $600 million to more than $2 billion. “
Acccording to the paper, that projection was provided “by a firm specializing in college and professional sports rights valuations.”
According to common sense, this all-out playoff thing in school football is about to get even worse.
Let’s go back to the future.
With the 12-team PTC, the top six convention champions in the selection committee’s final standings will receive automatic bids, and the top four teams overall will earn a first-round pass to the quarterfinals. Then, the remaining top six ranked groups will fill the field.
Take, for example, the final 2023 CFP rankings.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – Dec. 2: Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrates. . . [ ] after winning the Big Ten Championship against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 2, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
If the 12-man playoffs were active this season, No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Texas and No. four Alabama would have bye weeks from the opener. Then, they would face the winners of those games:
No. 12 Liberty at No. 5 in the state of Florida.
No. Ole Miss at No. 6 Georgia.
No. 10 Penn State at No. 7 Ohio State.
No. 9 Missouri at No. 8 Oregon.
Now get this: The No. 12 seed would have gone to an Oklahoma team with a third-place finish in the Big 12, but No. 23 Liberty earned that spot over Oklahoma since the Flames are the sixth highest-ranked conference champion in the final CFP rankings.
Confused already?
Wait, then get ready for more screaming.
If the 12-man playoffs existed this season, No. 13 LSU, No. 14 Arizona, No. 15 Louisville and No. 16 Notre Dame wouldn’t be quietly tucked into smaller bowls away from the huge dollars. I suspect that at least one of them – if all of them – would say more than a little to defend their inclusion in the Dandy Dozen.
LOUISVILLE, KY – SEPTEMBER 16: Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis (13) gets help out of the box after suffering an injury in a school football game against the Louisville Cardinals on Sept. 16, 2022 at Cardinals Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
To verify, with only the Fab Four those days, Florida State is furious about its fifth-place finish on Sunday through the CFP variety committee as the Seminoles were undefeated with thirteen wins, adding the ACC championship. But they’re also challenged offensively without the injured quarterback. Jordan Travis and committee members have consistently said they are looking to pick the four most sensible groups rather than the four most sensible groups.
The state of Florida is nothing more than Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama, or even number 6 Georgia.
As for the latter, the Bulldogs rank fifth in the country in overall offensive yards compared to sixth in the state of Florida, and are 16th in defensive yards allowed versus 24th in the state of Florida. Georgia is also the two-time national champion whose 29-game winning streak was slightly broken through Alabama in a 27-24 loss Saturday in the SEC Championship Game.
Despite this, the state of Florida was still angry.
Not even the 17-year-old proposal from the late Mike Leach would end this type of griping that began among The CFP Excluded with the start of the playoff system in 2014. That was back when Leach coached Texas Tech, and he told the world the big boys of college football should resemble the NCAA basketball tournament by expanding to at least a 64-team field.
All of this would only create anger among those ranked 65th, 66th, and 67th to 72nd in the CFP rankings.
Yes, and a little further.
The one for the PIC selectors?
Keep the earplugs handy.