One of the major conversations around college football this offseason has been the potential for the College Football Playoff to expand. However, there are dissenting opinions throughout the sport that have slowed down any progress.
Every conference’s leaders seem to want some form of Playoff expansion. It’s just a matter of what size they want to expand to, with the SEC generally wanting to see it move to 16 teams. It appears that Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko is on board with that messaging at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, FL.
“I don’t know why you ask us. It doesn’t matter what we think. I don’t know why we’re trying to become a trophy sport. What does Mike Elko want? 40. Then I won’t get fired,” Elko said. “… We don’t have to find a number that allows everyone to get in. It’s OK for it to be hard to get into the Playoff. None of us are answering for the good of the sport. We are answering for the good of ourselves.”
It’s hard not to see this as a major criticism of other coaches around the sport. In particular, those coaches pushing for expansion of the Playoff.
Certainly, Elko’s feelings aren’t completely unfounded, either. With teams spending more on rosters than ever before, they expect results from coaches. Making the Playoff is a great result, which helps you keep your job. Expanding the Playoff field would, hypothetically, make it easier to get in and keep your job.
The Debate Around Expanding the College Football Playoff
GettyThe College Football Playoff trophy
Almost from the moment the College Football Playoff expanded from four teams to 12 teams, there has been a push to keep expanding the field. That, to man, is regardless of the actual quality of the 12-team Playoff.
The Big Ten has been leading the charge to expand the field to better than 20 teams. Elko kind of made a joke out of the idea of making the field bloated. However, there are a few legitimate reasons for this. The most obvious is the money behind the move, which would hopefully add revenue beyond what conference championship games can do.
The ACC and Big 12 recently came out in favor of expanding along the same lines as the Big Ten. Their argument had more to do with access to the Playoff.
A more conspiratorial mind would also point out that the Big Ten has business tied to FOX. As of now, FOX does not have the rights to broadcast any College Football Playoff game. However, with more expansion, there’d be more games to bid on.
Meanwhile, the SEC is for expanding the Playoff. It’s just that the SEC would like to expand to 16 teams. Commissioner Greg Sankey explained,” We’re trying to inform that with research. We’ve done that, from our perspective, with 16. We want to understand, through some analytic support, games that matter in an expanded environment and games that might not matter.”
With too much expansion, there are major concerns about the loss of conference championship games and devaluing the regular season. Those are real fears. Again, those connecting the dots might see the SEC’s business connection with ESPN as a reason not to want to expand too much, given that it would create conflicts with the NFL, which the network is also tied to.
Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian Warns Against College Football Playoff Expansion
GettyTexas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian
It appears that the SEC coaches are on the same page about the College Football Playoff. Joining Mike Elko was Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, who warned against further expansion.
“I’ve voiced my opinions on when we were at four, I didn’t want to leave four. Now we’re at 12,” Sarkisian said at SEC Meetings in Destin on Tuesday. “We’re in such a rush to grow and go further, I just think we’ve got to think of the unintended consequences when we make decisions to move in whatever direction we decide to go. Change is inevitable. It’s just a matter of what that change is. That’s something I hope we’re conscientious in the decision-making when we do decide to change.”
The debate is going to continue for the months to come. Until the Big Ten and SEC can come to an agreement, the Playoff won’t change at all and will continue to operate as a 12-team tournament. For now, it appears that SEC coaches are publicly going to support the party line.
Texas A&M Mike Elko Offers Blunt Criticism of College Football Playoff Expansion