Brandon and I found ourselves on opposite ends of a debate today. The CFP Committee has announced that it will be reconsidering the format for the selection process of the 12 teams chosen for the College Football Playoffs beginning in the 2024 season.

The current format for the expanded 12-team playoffs is as following:

• Six highest-ranked conference champions determined by CFP committee will receive automatic bids.
• Four highest-ranked conference champions determined by CFP committee will receive byes into quarterfinals.
• The 6-12 spots will be filled by at-large selection.

Now with the demise of the Pac-12, changes may be coming to the selection process. For my full article on that, click here.

That's not what this blog is about though. This blog asks the question: What type of university was the expanded 12-team playoff made for? Brandon believes that it was made for "the little man". The Tulane Universities of the world from last season, which was ranked 16th in the CFP rankings after defeating UCF in the American Athletic Conference Championship. Despite the conference championship, the Green Wave had no shot of cracking the college football playoffs. Instead, they would go on to defeat No. 10 USC led by Heisman winner Caleb Williams. Brandon believes there should be a win and you're in system.

While I don't completely disagree with the thought process, the College Football Playoffs wasn't expanded to 12 teams so that numerous mid-major schools could get a crack at the top dogs. Should one get in? Maybe, but they'll get wiped by an SEC team just like Cincinnati did in 2021 as a mid-major school. Instead, the CFP was expanded to allow more of the legitimate best teams in the country get a chance to face off against each other, perhaps maybe even for a second or third time. This expansion was made for the No. 5 Alabama and No. 6 Tennessee's of the world, both which missed the playoffs due to two losses on each of its schedules, with both of Alabama's losses coming to teams ranked inside the Top 10. The CFP Committee is going to welcome these top SEC and Big Ten teams into the playoffs because it's meant for the best teams in the country, and maybe ONE mid-major champion.

Money also plays a factor in this. Power 3 schools are going to produce more revenue, and money makes these decisions. Brandon and I were not necessarily debating how the selection criteria WILL change, but instead how it SHOULD be changed. To hear the full debate, check out the podcast below.