College football leaders have been discussing a change to the current 12-team playoff format that was put into place last season. Most of these changes revolve around giving the Big 10 and SEC more representation in the playoff, as they are the two best conferences and generate the most revenue.
The new playoff proposal that has gained the most traction is a 4-4-2-2-1 system that would give the Big Ten and SEC four automatic bids while the ACC and Big 12 get two, and the group of five would get one. As you can imagine, many people inside the ACC and Big 12 are not pleased with this, including Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal.
Mario Cristobal Pushes Back on SEC, Big Ten Automatic Qualifier Plan
Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger spoke to Cristobal about the playoff proposal, and he was not pleased with it, saying, “Granting Spots, that makes zero sense. Football has never been about gifting. It’s about earning.”
I see Cristobal’s point of view, but when you look at the Big 12 and ACC teams’ playoff performance, you understand why the new model might head in a different direction. Arizona State, Clemson, Boise State, and SMU all lost their first playoff game by over a touchdown.
This new model wouldn’t block the ACC and Big 12 from competing, but it would pave the way for more SEC and Big Ten teams to make the playoff, which hopefully would deliver a better product to college football fans.
Cristobal isn’t the only person who thinks the new model is bad, as a according to Dellenger, a non-Big Ten and SEC athletic director said, “No one likes it.”
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NC State head coach Dave Doeren told Dellenger that the ACC deserves three automatic qualifiers as a minimum.
There’s still plenty of meetings to be had before a new model is decided upon, but at the end of the day, the SEC and Big Ten do have more sway and influence than the rest of the conferences, and I think the 4-4-2-2-1 model will end up being implemented.
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