ACC reactions mixed to College Football Playoff expansion

Coaches and players in the ACC have expressed mixed reactions to the recent consideration given to expanding the College Football Playoff.

While some are on board with the current proposal to increase the postseason model from four to 12 teams, others aren’t convinced that expansion doesn’t come with its own set of new challenges.

“I was on record that I wasn’t in favor of the four-team playoff,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said last week. “I thought the BCS [Bowl Championship Series] got it right. I’ve been a part of every scenario and now, all of a sudden, it’s all about the playoff. Now you go to 12 and it’s really about the playoff.”

Playoff officials began studying the feasibility of expanding the playoff two years ago, creating a four-person group to look at the impact of such a move. The group presented its proposal, calling for increasing the postseason to 12 teams.

It’s been the lack of variety among the previous playoff participants that’s caused the biggest pushback, particularly among fans.

Eleven teams have qualified for the 28 available semifinal spots — with Clemson and Alabama leading the way with six appearances, followed by Ohio State (4), Oklahoma (4), Notre Dame (2), LSU, Oregon, Georgia, Florida State, Michigan State and Washington.

“As a league, we’re using the summer to engage in conversations on what is best for college football postseason,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said, “most importantly the student-athletes who participate.

“The success of the CFP is undeniable. It’s important we ensure any future evolutions will only enhance the regular college football season and postseason.”

The proposed 12-team playoff model would be composed of the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams determined by the 13-member selection committee. The four highest-ranked conference champions would be seeded 1 through 4 and would get a bye while the eight other teams would be seeded 5 through 12 and would play first-round games on campus sites.

“Nobody really knows what the proposal is other than having a 12-team playoff but there are a lot of other things that come with it,” Miami coach Manny Diaz said. “What does it do for the regular season? What does it do for the conference-championship game? It’s hard to really say we feel this way or that way.

“Our players talk about it and they’re for it. I’m for it. I think a more inclusive playoff helps everybody.”

“I’m definitely in favor of it. I think it gives more teams an opportunity to get in,” added Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King, who spent five seasons at Houston before transferring to Miami in 2020. “It gives teams like UCF and Houston — smaller teams an opportunity to play with Power Five conferences.”

Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton saw firsthand the impact of the playoff’s exclusivity. Milton led UCF to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2017-18 but the Knights failed to crack the top eight in the CFP rankings in both seasons, giving way instead to Power Five schools with multiple losses.

“I think we should add more teams. It creates more drama,” Milton explained. “You think of a team like the New York Giants. They were a wild-card team when they beat the New England Patriots in 2007. If there is no wild card, there are no Giants and the Patriots go on to be undefeated and Tom Brady is immortal.”

One of the biggest concerns expressed has centered on player safety.

Expanding the playoff would end up adding more games to the schedule with teams possibly facing as many as 17 games in a season.

“I don’t necessarily feel comfortable adding another game,” said Clemson offensive lineman Matt Bockhurt, who took part in 744 snaps last season. “I think if we’re going to talk about the expansion of the playoff, we also need to consider shortening the regular season.

“As an offensive lineman, when you start getting up to 14, 15 games, that’s quite a few snaps. Given the situation we were presented with last year with lack of depth, the snaps add up quickly. That’s some wear and tear on your body that’s hard to describe.”

Swinney is concerned there could also be some unintended consequences with adding more games.

“I think you’ll have kids opt out of the playoff especially if you expand the season,” Swinney said of the growing trend of players choosing to skip bowl games to save themselves for NFL careers.

But not everybody sees it that way.

“I think you will get more guys not opting out if you make it a 12-team playoff,” Milton said. “There could be something to providing players with incentives to playing bowl games because there’s a lot of guys opting out.”

Added Diaz, “I think the opt-out is here to stay. I think it’s an existential threat to college football and the only way to fight that is to create more meaningful games. The way to make the regular season better is we need to create better games at the end of the year so teams have a chance to get into the playoff.”

The College Football Playoff Board of Managers meets in September to hear feedback gathered from the management committee members over the next several months. The board has the final vote as to possible expansion with the 2023 season as the earliest possible start date.

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.