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Auburn's Malzahn calls for playoff expansion to 'guarantee' two SEC teams get in
The first year of the College Football Playoff resulted in such a huge success for the sport, why would anyone want to modify it after only one season? To get more SEC teams in the playoff of course.
While adding more teams to the playoff would double the elite matchups at the end of the season, coaches and administrators should be careful what they wish for. The negative effects that would result in marginalizing the regular season could be devastating to the game.
Case in point, NCAA basketball. Because the tournament takes center stage in the sport, the regular season is more or less meaningless to the end result of the season. Do football fans want to see an Iron Bowl in which one or both teams rests their stars for the playoff? As crazy as that sounds, if one or both teams sit atop the standings they could conceivably be playing for seeding for an eight-team playoff, instead of battling for an elusive slot in the current four-team playoff.
While many will argue an eight-team playoff would give an opportunity for small schools to enter the playoff, it's more likely the Power 5 schools would continue to dominate the eight-team format, as Malzahn eluded to, giving the more powerful leagues a second team into the field.
The game of college football is so unique because of the do-or-die nature of the game's regular season. The playoff should get a couple of seasons in before we race to modify it. We need to look only to the BCS format as an example, as it was ultimately ruined by annual modifications that helped to destroy its process for determining a champion.
Gus Malzahn adamant that @CFBPlayoff expands. "Our league needs eight teams. That'll all but guarantee we'll get two teams [in]."
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 21, 2015
