Why College Football Should Expand Playoffs

Without football at Santa Clara, fall quarter Saturday afternoons aren’t filled with tailgates and Saturday nights aren’t filled with roaring stadiums. However, many schools across the country and even nearby in the bay area, like Stanford, UC Berkeley, and San Jose State, experience that rush of gamedays. That is, until playoff season in late December when SEC and ACC schools dominate the National Championship games, including the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl. West coast schools tend to have a hard time making it to these games, though. In fact, with the current set up of college football playoffs, many teams have a hard time making it to these games. This differs greatly from many other college sports playoffs, most notably basketball playoffs with March Madness.

This is set to change soon, though, and it’s probably for the best. Expanding from the current 4 team setup to potentially 12 teams, there are many positives that could come from this for nearly everyone. More teams are able to participate in the excitement that comes with a playoff run, more players are able to gain post-season experience, and more television programs are able to benefit financially.

With more teams come more games. More games mean more tailgates, more touchdowns, more cheering and togetherness. When the playoffs limit the number of games to just 4, many schools are missing out on the chance to enjoy the fun of what it’s like to be in such an important game. With the potential expansion, school spirit would be at an all time high across the country. Not only will more schools be able to participate, but they will be cheering for more games if a bracket system was implemented.

This larger experience applies to the actual teams too. With a longer playoff run, more players and coaches can gain experience of playing in high-stakes games. There are many reasons why the same teams end up in the championship games, and many of those are because the same coaches and players know what it takes to get their teams there. Additionally, when more underclass players get to the bowl games with their teams, by the time they’re seniors, they’ll know exactly what to expect.

This change would benefit the media as well. With longer playoff runs, more games need to be shown on TV, which in turn would bring in more revenue for the programs that broadcast those games. With tournaments like March Madness, those first few rounds have viewers glued to their televisions for most of the day because they know there will be a game playing at most times. Additional playoff games will bring those same fans to their TVs.

This expansion would make it more exciting especially for viewers like Santa Clara students who don’t necessarily have a favorite team to watch. With more games and more experience across the country, it’s a lot less likely the same teams will end up in the final games. Similar to March Madness, there will always be teams who consistently make it to the tournament, but there will be more chances for underdog teams or Cinderella stories. The media, the players, the coaches, the fans – everyone benefits from this expansion.