“Thoughts on the playoff system,” Harbaugh said, “I guess the first thing that comes to mind is more would be more, more would be better in the playoffs. Four in right now. Let’s go to eight and eventually get to 16.” (Detroit Free Press)
I’m not so sure Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is really stepping out on a limb here. It seems obvious at this point that college football needs to expand and further take care of the flaws that the four-team playoff presents. Sure it’s better than the BCS but as we’ve seen we really haven’t gotten away from some of bias that comes with the CFB Playoff vote.
I’m not even sure the we need to jump from four to eight then 16. Lets just go for the full on 16 and skip the crap in the middle. As Harbaugh essentially said, college football has seen what it can be with the FCS model.
That was the boldest statement among the seven coaches who spoke Monday. Harbaugh pointed to how the Football Championship Subdivision playoff “model has been successful.” The FCS has a true tournament feel and has grown from its initial four teams in 1978 to 24 teams since 2013.
Anyways I don’t want to depreciate what Harbaugh said. The notion of a 16 team playoff in college football certainly needs the endorsement of a bigger name like Harbaugh. Hopefully the NCAA is listening. And if they want a more expanded blueprint, we have one.
