The College Football Playoff committee released their rankings last night and, as expected, immediately generated controversy. The decision to include Ohio State over previously third-ranked TCU and Baylor upset Big 12 supporters, leading to questions about whether the conference should other major conferences and have a conference championship game.
All this adds fuel to the fire that the playoff will eventually expand. The decision to expand from two to four teams made sense; we saw many instances in which the third ranked team in the country in hindsight was actually the best team, or at least deserved a shot to prove itself. With eight teams, the 9th ranked team will complain furiously, but it’s hard to argue the 9th ranked team has a reasonable chance of being the best in the nation. In basketball, the NCAA tournament ensures that every half decent team gets a shot at the national title, at the cost of the regular season. Football is a different sport, and that outcome is something the NCAA should avoid in this case.
The regular season will still be extremely important on a weekly basis with an eight team playoff. Getting to the conference championship game is a necessity to be in the playoff, ensuring that teams cannot afford to take any conference game lightly. Games in minor conferences will be more important as those teams have a legitimate shot at the playoff. The committee takes into account strength of schedule, so marquee matchups will still be scheduled out of conference. Whatever happens going forward, we’ll all be watching.