Twelve Team Playoff Offers False Promise to ACC and Big12 fans
By Doug Davis
Guest Opinion
With the end of the 2024 season approaching in a few weeks, we are rapidly nearing the first-ever 12-team playoff. Expanding the 4-team playoff to a 12-team format sounds great.
You would think that more teams eligible creates even more opportunities for new teams to win the National Championship in January, right? Wrong! Let’s rewind the clock and remind ourselves how we got here.
It was only a decade ago that the 4-team playoff became a reality, resulting in a resounding 42-20 Ohio State victory over the University of Oregon. Before introducing the four-team playoff fans insisted on changing to the postseason, arguing that the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system was flawed.
It seemed to fans that the opportunities were too limited, and it was unfair. Even high-profile personalities like former President Barack Obama advocated against the BCS. He even suggested an eight-team playoff during his 2008 presidential campaign on a nationally televised football game.
Like the BCS, the 4-team playoff had its share of controversies, leading towards the playoff expansion in 2024. The 4-team playoff introduced a brand-new selection process, a College Football Committee made up of Athletic Directors from around the country.
Fans became discontented with the selection process; only having four spots would leave out a Power 5 Conference Champion. Notable exclusions during the 4-team playoff era include Ohio State (2017 & 2018), Oregon (2019) and most recently, Florida State after their undefeated season.
Why won’t increasing the number of teams eligible for the postseason create more inclusion? To quote the 1976 docudrama All the President’s Men: “Follow the money.”
College media rights deals have never been richer. Multiple conferences signed brand-new deals in the past few years, including the largest deal in history: an 8-year $8 billion contract signed between the Big10 conference and CBS, NBC and Fox. Further, ABC and ESPN signed a $3 Billion media rights deal to be the exclusive Southeastern Conference (SEC) broadcast company.
Following the money further, 80% of national championships played from 2014 to 2023 had either the SEC or Big10 conference represented by one or both teams playing. 50% of all national championship winners during the 4-team playoff era represented the SEC.
We are mistaken if we think a 12-team playoff will provide more opportunities for ACC or Big12 teams to make the postseason for a shot at the National Championship. There is simply too much riding on the championship incumbents.
The inevitable reality of more spots in a playoff is that more opportunities will not be given to ACC, Big12 or a group of five teams but rather to an additional Big Ten or SEC team based on their strength of schedule, conference prestige and roster quality.
We were sold a lie: extending the playoffs was not about representation; expanding the playoffs was about opening more spots for Big Ten and SEC teams to compete for a National Championship to make good on those lucrative media contracts.
The 12-team playoff should have been a step forward for college football, allowing the most deserving teams to make the postseason and make the final college football games of the season more entertaining. Nevertheless, the dream for inclusivity is just that: a dream. As college football fans, we must question whether the expansion was about enhancing the sport or just fattening the pockets of the few at the expense of the many.
