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mrandyk said:
The system is the obvious issue. A one-loss power conference champ missing the playoffs should never happen. Can not believe we are still at 4 teams.
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The bolded happened because two P5 conference champs were undefeated along with Notre Dame.  I've always been for an 8 team playoff.  However when we get down to the rat killing, I'd rather see a one loss champ miss the playoffs than see a three loss champ who played in an excessively weak conference make the playoffs.  When one considers why it took so long to get a playoff (too many games, diminish regular season, etc.), I think we're stuck with the current system and four team playoff for quite a bit longer.

 
junior4949 said:
The bolded happened because two P5 conference champs were undefeated along with Notre Dame.  I've always been for an 8 team playoff.  However when we get down to the rat killing, I'd rather see a one loss champ miss the playoffs than see a three loss champ who played in an excessively weak conference make the playoffs.  When one considers why it took so long to get a playoff (too many games, diminish regular season, etc.), I think we're stuck with the current system and four team playoff for quite a bit longer.
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To play Devil's Advocate a bit, the teams that likely would've made the playoff this year in an eight team system would be (1-5 are the P5 champs, 6-7 are the at-large bids, and 8 is the non-P5 champ):

1. Alabama

2. Clemson

3. Oklahoma

4. Ohio State

5. Washington

6. Notre Dame

7. Georgia

8. UCF

I don't have much of a problem with that at all. The only really good team being left out is Michigan. To their credit, their only losses came to two CFP contenders, but they were in complete control of their destiny almost all year and didn't get it done. It would largely be their fault if they missed out on the CFP in this scenario.

We all agree any system is going to be flawed and there's probably going to be at least one team every year that got goofed over. But, the aforementioned hypothetical is a much easier pill to swallow than what we have this year and satiates a ton of griping IMO.

 
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Just to argue with you Enhance. Michigan wold be more deserving than Georgia. Both of their losses came from CFP teams in your scenario, while Georgia had a loss to a lower ranked team. 

To be open, I'm not a fan of expanding the playoffs. The more who get in water it down and lessen the importance of the regular schedule. I'm one of the very few who actually like the old bowl system. It made each bowl more meaningful and gave you regional rivals.

 
jager said:
Just to argue with you Enhance. Michigan wold be more deserving than Georgia. Both of their losses came from CFP teams in your scenario, while Georgia had a loss to a lower ranked team. 
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That would certainly be a point of debate, however I built my hypothetical scenario off the final CFP rankings that had Georgia ranked higher than Michigan. Either way, I think the overall point holds true - both of those teams dropped the ball and had their fate out of their hands. The hypothetical result would be far more appetizing.

To your other point, I sometimes look back fondly on the bowl system too, but I'm glad it no longer holds the same weight. If college football had been started this year, we wouldn't have built the bowl structure. We would've built it like almost every single major sport in this country with a playoff. Bowls are an archaic system that fit the needs of their era.

 
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Speaking of eras, we're entering a new one.  We have players who are opting out of bowl games in order to prepare for the NFL draft.  We had a player who quit the team after getting an injury to prepare for the NFL draft.  In the past few years, college players are getting a bit more vocal about how the money is allocated.  If we extend the season by keeping conference championship games and then going to an eight team playoff, it might be the straw that breaks the camel's back.  A few years ago, there was a RB that was encouraged to not even play his junior year of college because the shelf life of a RB in the pros is short.  I have a feeling this will be revisited in the near future.  I never thought I'd see the day where a coach of an amateur sport is paid more than a coach of the same professional support.  Times are a changing, and I believe asking these players to do even more for their schools will cause the breaking point.

 
Perhaps. You don't see many (if any) elite NFL prospects opting to forgo the CFP. Playing for a national championship and the exposure on that level is far more lucrative to a college athlete than the Gator or Insight Bowl. Furthermore, an eight team playoff only increases the potential number of games by one to a possibility of 15 if you're including the CCG. That's the exact number of games the NDSU Bison have played every year given their routine presence in the national title game.

 
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Enhance said:
Perhaps. You don't see many (if any) elite NFL prospects opting to forgo the CFP. Playing for a national championship and the exposure on that level is far more lucrative to a college athlete than the Gator or Insight Bowl. Furthermore, an eight team playoff only increases the potential number of games by one to a possibility of 15 if you're including the CCG. That's the exact number of games the NDSU Bison have played every year given their routine presence in the national title game.
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How many NDSU Bison expect to make it into the NFL?  How many have made it into the NFL in the last decade?  15 games in the lower divisions is different than for power 5 D1 athletes because those players are just thrilled to get their education paid for.  The 4 and 5 star recruits in D1 have aspirations of playing in the NFL.  The more games they play the better the odds of getting a permanent injury.  Bosa quit Ohio State when they were definitely in playoff contention.  Let's just call it for what it is.  The only reason the playoff might expand is for one thing and one thing only:  money!  The players with the skills to make it to the next level really don't get any benefit from the windfall.  I'm not sure I buy into the argument that those playing in the playoff benefit much at all from the exposure.  Year in and year out, we see players stock either rise dramatically or fall dramatically based upon how they do at the combine.  Dabo has already said he'd be in favor of going back to the way it was before the playoffs just having the #1 and #2 team play in a bowl game at the end of the year for the NC.  In 2016, Saban hinted that he was in favor of expanding the playoff.  In 2017, he was against it arguing it would diminish the other bowl games.  In 2018, he made the same argument about diminishing the other bowl games.  One could argue he changed his mind simply because of the different situation his team found itself in at the end of the season.  However, I believe there's a bit more to it than that.  Why are Dabo and Saban against expansion?  Is it because it makes it more difficult to win a NC?  Possibly.  Or, is it because they see the tide changing and are afraid more and more of their better athletes will simply decide to skip the games in order to prepare for the draft?  2016 was the beginning of the trend of sitting out games in the post season when Fournette and McCaffrey sat out.  In 2017, that number went from 2 to 10.  In 2018, the number doubled to 20.  See a trend? 

 
@junior4949 I agree with much of what you're saying, but you're arguing some points I either didn't make or didn't try to refute.

To refocus, you mention 'Bosa' - are you referring to Nick? If so, his situation doesn't really fit the narrative you're trying to expand upon. He left tOSU because of injury/surgery mid-season. That's significantly different than a player making it through the season, their team making the CFP, and then that player choosing to forego it all for the NFL draft.

I'm also drawing a differentiation between bowl games and the CFP. In the CFP era, so far as I can tell, no players from playoff teams have sat out in favor of preparing for the NFL draft. As this article points out, the players doing it are those stuck in New Years Six bowls or less. Hell, Clemson has three legitimate NFL players starting on their d-line right now and they were all going to play against Notre Dame prior to the drug test issue.

I won't be so bold to say players won't eventually sit out of the CFP, however, it hasn't happened since the playoff introduction four years ago. Playing for a title means a hell of a lot more than a bowl game and I think expanding to eight teams, with the potential of only one more game in a whole season, would not be enough to break the camel's back.

 
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I did some research and looked up the top 8 teams from the beginning of the playoff era courtesy of the CFB ranking. I also included a non-P5 team that could take the 8 seed in the playoff. 

2014-

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Florida State

4. Ohio State

5. Baylor

6. TCU 

7. Mississippi State

8. Michigan State

Boise State would have been the at-large team with two losses. So do you put them or MSU in? 

2015-

1. Clemson

2. Alabama

3. Michigan State-only loss was to Nebraska!

4. Oklahoma

5. Iowa

6. Stanford

7. Ohio State

8. Notre Dame 

For this year, it comes down to whether they want Notre Dame to take the at-large or Houston as the 8 seed. 

2016-

1. Alabama

2. Clemson

3. Ohio State

4. Washington

5. Penn State

6. Michigan

7. Oklahoma

8. Wisconsin

This year PJ Fleck and row the boat Western Michigan would be the 8 seed over Wisconsin if we do the AQ with one non-P5 champ. If not, the B1G playoff would be pretty fun to watch as we were the top dog conference this year. 

2017-

1. Clemson

2. Oklahoma

3. Georgia

4. Alabama

5. Ohio State

6. Wisconsin

7. Auburn

8. USC

UCF would probably take Auburn's spot as USC won their conference. With two SEC schools making the playoff it begs the question do we need an 8 team playoff?

2018-

1. Alabama

2. Clemson

3. Notre Dame

4. Oklahoma

5. Georgia

6. Ohio State

7. Michigan

8. UCF

I believe Michigan would not be in the ranking as Washington won their conference and UCF would be the 7 seed. 

Outside of one year, it has a very balanced set of teams for the top 8. Again this is off the CFB rankings which determine the playoff. A couple years a G5 team probably get in as an 8 seed. 

 
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