When deciding the future format of the College Football Playoff, the NFL cannot serve as a guide. College football needs a selection committee, even if the NFL does not.
Kirby Smart on college football’s future
Kirby Smart urges leaders to prioritize the game’s future over personal or conference agendas in playoff talks.
I hear it often, from countless coaches, and some university and conference administrators, too: If only college football operated more like the NFL, that would fix some so-called problems facing the sport.
They’re looking at this backward.
One of college football’s many beauties is that it doesn’t masquerade as an NFL imitation or Triple-AAA football. Even in this era of paid athletes, college football remains distinct from the NFL. It should steadfastly protect that identity, rather than surrender it amid a foolhardy desire to mimic the pros.
At least one high-ranking conference commissioner, the Big 12’s Brett Yormark, appreciates college football’s need to remain intentionally divergent from the NFL. That’s true, Yormark says, of how college football should operate its postseason.
Conference commissioners are embroiled in an ongoing debate about the future shape and structure of the College Football Playoff. Two models have been socialized most.
In one corner is the Big Ten-backed auto-bid plan that would reduce the selection committee’s role and award 13 of the 16 playoff spots as automatic bids, preassigned to conferences based on historical clout. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti drew inspiration from professional leagues while cooking up this playoff plan. Petitti’s quest for play-in games is ripped from Major League Baseball’s old playbook of a play-in round for wild-card teams.
In the other corner is Yormark’s favored 5+11 playoff model that would preserve and expand the…
Source link : https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2025/07/11/college-football-playoff-format-nfl-model/84493734007/
Author :
Publish date : 2025-07-11 10:06:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
