Michigan Football: Expanded playoff would be great news for Wolverines

There was a recommendation for an expanded College Football Playoff and it would be great news for Michigan football. 

Anybody that has watched the college football playoff for the past 4-5 years knows what every fan knows: the playoff needed to be expanded. Over the past few years, and especially these last few months, talks have finally heated up. Now at long last, after months of speculation and rumors, the very obvious has been confirmed: the college football playoff field will be expanded.

At least if the committee adopts the recent recommendation, which is a still long way from happening.

It is a collective breathe of fresh air that we as fans will finally get our wish and it is great that the playoff committee has finally listened to fans, coaches, and players’ demands. This is a necessary step to get college football back to the level of chaos and mayhem that it had years ago.

Anybody with a brain knows that the last four-plus years of the playoff have been dominated by pretty much the same four teams: Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, and Oklahoma. Who wants to see only those four teams win championships for a decade? Nobody does.

Only 11 different teams have reached the four-team playoff in its history, and last year, no new schools made it for the first time in its playoff history. This new playoff format will almost assuredly make college football that much more competitive with few opt-outs and it will garner even more buzz around the playoff. Also, this playoff benefits Michigan football in a lot of ways.

Listen, I hear the narrative. Jim Harbaugh knows it. He can deny it or brush it off, but we all know Harbaugh knows it. The media knows it. The fans know it. Even the players know it. Michigan football has not appeared in the college football playoff yet. That’s the biggest monkey on their back.

In the new proposed format, the field would consist of the six highest-ranked conference champs with six at-large teams. The top four teams would all get byes, and the winners of the other games would play the top four teams at the highest-ranked team’s football field.

I would be all for this new format. While I would’ve preferred no more than eight teams in the playoff, I can’t really complain too much cause at least the playoff is expanding at all. It will give other FBS conferences more of a shot to get in.

If we use last year’s CFB rankings, for example, the new playoff would look like this: #5 Notre Dame vs. #12 Coastal Carolina (with the winner to face #4, Oklahoma). #6 Texas A&M vs. #11 Indiana (with the winner to face #3 Ohio State). #7 Florida would play #10 Iowa State (with the winner to face #2 Clemson). #8 Cincinnati would face #9 Georgia (with the winner to face #1 Alabama).

Notre Dame would be bumped to the five seed because only conference champions can earn a bye so it would go to Oklahoma.

As I mentioned earlier, personally I’m all for an expanded playoff. I’m sick and tired of the same four teams making it in every year.

Plus, this can completely change the narrative of Michigan football.

What potential expansion could mean for Michigan football

I’m done caring about Michigan winning its conference and the Big Ten title to make the playoff. Jim Harbaugh just needs to make a damn playoff already. It shouldn’t really matter at this point in his tenure how it’s done.

If Michigan can make the playoff without those requirements, sign me up. Now, if this were to happen, of course, all the outsider voices would still say negative things about U-M cause they still couldn’t win their conference, but it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Certain teams still deserve to make the playoff with two or three losses. It depends on strength of the schedule and the final score of the games.

If a team played a very hard schedule and lost the first two or three hardest games at the beginning of the year by a few points (and then went undefeated the rest of the season) it arguably deserves to make the playoff. Teams aren’t the same as they are from the beginning of a season until the very end. Changes do happen. Teams do get better as the season goes along.

If we look at Michigan’s final ranking over the past five seasons, from 2015-2020, they would’ve made the playoffs twice. In their final ranking (prior to the bowl game, the playoff rankings), in 2016, Michigan was ranked #6. And lastly, in 2018, Michigan was ranked #8.

I’m sure all Michigan fans would take two years of being in the playoff out of five years any day of the week. The earliest this expansion can happen though is at the end of the 2023 season. The current playoff contract has to expire first before a new contract can begin.

Actually, not expanding the playoff now is better for Michigan football.

J.J. McCarthy is not quite ready yet. Probably he will be ready in a few seasons, maybe when the playoff has expanded. While Michigan fans should always want the team to go undefeated, if a few losses happen, it’s not the end of the world. Michigan football could still make the playoff and see McCarthy represent the Maize and Blue in the playoff.

So all in all, I am in favor of the expanded playoff. It increases Michigan’s chances of making the field, even if they suffer a few losses, they aren’t automatically disqualified.

It also makes it possible for multiple smaller FBS schools to make the playoff as well and get great exposure for their conference, players, and their fanbase. Lastly, it adds more flavor to the field and just makes it more entertaining to watch.