Expanded CFB Playoffs? Yes!
Welcome back! Those of you who are long time followers of this blog (yes, I'm talking to both of you!), know that I have been in favor of expanding the College Football Playoff to increase access. The arguments against such a move are well known- it would "water down" the best regular season in all of sports, it would lead to more blowouts, and the #5 team is rarely deserving of inclusion (looking at you @philsteele42). In a nutshell, my arguments for a playoff dispute all of these. First, adding 4, 8, or 12 teams would still make this the most exclusive playoff in all of sports. No other sport/division allows so few. Having a 16-team playoff (which I have advocated for) would still allow only 12.3% of all FBS teams in, which is not only lower than any other sport, but MUCH lower (as I have pointed out in past blogs). Second, before the season starts, 65 teams (the G5 plus Independents not named Notre Dame) are already excluded, which means the regular season is not