ESPN.com‘s Heather Dinich reported no decision was made on the future of the College Football Playoff. Leaders continue to explore an expansion to 24 teams, and a new number – 20 – briefly became a talking point on Monday.
The committee has until Dec. 1 to decide whether the field would expand for 2027.
A 20-team field isn’t better than the 12-team format or a 16-team format, which got lost in the expansion shuffle. It is, however, more workable than a bloated 24-team format which has been the sales mission from Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti this offseason.
The commissioners and coaches seem to be on board with that plan. But fans aren’t exactly asking for doubling the field after just two years.
The 20-team format does have one hook. Four play-in games could make this work if they sell the play-in games right.
How a 20-team format would work
The plan likely would include four play-in games before a first round of 16 teams in the College Football Playoff.
Using last year’s final CFP rankings and this year’s CFP parameters, this is what the 20-team field would have looked like:
Play-in games
No. 13 Texas (at-large) vs. No. 20 Duke (ACC champ)
No. 14 Vanderbilt (at-large) vs. No. 19 Tulane (G6 champ)
No. 15 Utah (at-large) vs. No. 18 Michigan (at-large)
No. 16 USC (at-large) vs. No. 17 Arizona (at-large)
Under the new CFP format the four Power 4 conference champions will get in the playoff – and that was an unranked, five-loss Duke team last season.
The highest-ranked Group of 6 schools also will make the field.
Using last year’s rankings, No. 19 Virginia would be left out, but they might actually be in because in a 20-team format we likely will eliminate the ACC championship game.
That is the selling point. Those four play-in games would be a substitute for conference championship weekend.
Is it a true sweetener? Would you watch those four games with the same interest as the SEC championship game – which was Georgia vs. Alabama last year – or the Big Ten championship game – which was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between Ohio State and Indiana?
In this 12-team format, the participants in the SEC and Big Ten championship games are almost certain to make the CFP anyway. The ACC and Big 12 championship games carry a little more weight.
That play-in weekend looks solid – especially the Michigan-Utah matchup.
Group of 6 schools would have a better chance of pulling off upsets. Margin of victory would be less of a topic of conversation, and maybe the NFL will back off a little bit with scheduling on top of these games.
How first-round games would work
Would the CFP re-seed after the play-in games so the lowest-seeded team would play the No. 1 seed in the first round? If not, then this is what the first round would look like after the play-in games:
First-round games in 20-team format
No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 16 USC/No. 17 Arizona
No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Alabama
No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 13 Texas/No. 20 Duke
No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 BYU
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 14 Vanderbilt/No. 19 Tulane
No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 Notre Dame
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Utah/No. 18 Michigan
No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Miami
This looks like any given bracket in March Madness, which added four more play-in games to expand the tournament field to 76. While that was met with resistance in basketball, these play-in games could be good for college football.
This looks like every team that had a case to be in the College Football Playoff last season.
Who doesn’t want to see that 3-14 game between Texas Tech and Texas, preferably in Lubbock? This gets you one step closer to Ohio State vs. Michigan in the CFP – which would add a new level to The Game.
Would a 20-team CFP work?
Look at that 20-team field again. It includes seven SEC teams, five Big Ten teams, four Big 12 schools, two ACC schools, one Group of 6 school and Notre Dame.
Virginia, Houston, Georgia Tech and Iowa are the first four out. The Cavaliers, Cougars and Yellow Jackets were three-loss teams. Iowa was a four-loss team.
There will be three-loss at-large teams in the 20-team CFP – but four-loss teams would be a rare occurrence.
We can lean on strength-of-schedule metrics to sort these teams out, but it means the regular season still has some value. We would spend the final two weekends arguing about whether those four teams belong, but no four-loss teams are in the playoff.
Let’s try this format one more time using this year’s preseason Coaches Poll as a guide. Here is what we would get this year:
Play-in games
No. 13 LSU vs. No. 20 Boise State*
No. 14 USC vs. No. 19 Washington
No. 15 BYU vs. No. 18 Tennessee
No. 16 Michigan vs. No. 17 Penn State
First round
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 16 Michigan/No. 17 Penn State
No. 8 Texas A&M vs. No. 9 Oklahoma
No. 4 Texas vs. No. 13 LSU/No. 20 Boise State
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Texas Tech
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 14 USC/No. 19 Washington
No. 6 Indiana vs. No. 11 Alabama
No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 15 BYU/No. 18 Tennessee
No. 7 Miami vs. No. 10 Ole Miss
Boise State – which did not crack the Top 25 but is the highest-ranked Group of 6 team – gets in at SMU’s expense.
The Mustangs are among the first four out with Utah, Iowa and Clemson. The SEC has eight teams, and the Big Ten has seven teams. The Big 12 has two, the ACC has one and we have Group of 6 and Notre Dame.
It’s virtually the same as last year.
Ohio State-Michigan is in play in the Round of 16. Is this perfect? Of course not. But it’s better than 24 – so why not discuss it a little more?
