Both Clemson and Notre Dame should not be in the playoffs. They are playing in the toilet bowl as neither has played a competitive schedule. In other years the ACC was a good conference, but not this year. Neither should be in the top 4.
Clemson Football
Dabo Swinney has strong opinion on College Football Playoff expansion
The argument continues to heat up on a daily basis this time of year:
Are there flaws in the current College Football Playoff format? Do we need an expansion?
And like the game of college football, people are passionate about the sides they take in this particular disagreement. Over the past couple weeks since the 2018 Playoffs got announced, there have been plenty of talks - and yes, arguments - over a potential for the Playoff to get expanded to eight teams in the coming years.
The current format is a four-team playoff that was created going into the 2014 season after the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) computer model was put to bed. The current system is in contract until the 2026 season.
UCF has gone unbeaten two consecutive years and has won 25 straight games and believes they deserve to be in the conversation even though they are not a Power-5 school.
Occasionally in a playoff, there are going to be more teams that are deserving to get in than there are actual spots. That’s when you have problems. UCF has gone unbeaten two consecutive years and has won 25 straight games and believes they deserve to be in the conversation even though they are not a Power-5 school.
Then there are cases like Ohio State’s or Washington’s, conference champions, who believed they were snubbed of a spot. There is always going to be someone left out of the party, which will lead to fuming tempers from fan bases and an ensuing dialogue.
This year, it seems like the argument for expansion has never been stronger.
No. 3 Notre Dame’s head coach Brian Kelly told reporters that there’s an “appetite to begin a dialogue” for expansion, according to ESPN’s Dan Murphy. It has been reported that Kelly wants an eight-team playoff with the five conference champions, plus other spots for at-large bids.
And he’s not the only one who feels that way.
Kelly is also not the only head coach with a strong opinion on the matter.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney said Friday he would much rather prefer the current format to go back to just one game for the national championship.
“I’d be more (in favor) of going back to two, to be honest with you. I’m not a more-is-better guy,” Swinney said Friday. “I know there is a huge crowd out there for that, but I think college football is unique and now all of a sudden it just becomes like everything else when you do that, in my opinion.”
“I’d be more (in favor) of going back to two, to be honest with you. I’m not a more-is-better guy,” Swinney said Friday.
There are currently 40 bowl games, including the national championship, which means there are 78 teams that play in these games. The winner of those games gets to spring into their offseason with some positive momentum to build upon in recruiting and for the next season.
Just look at Clemson’s 2012 Peach Bowl win over LSU and how that helped shape the culture of what Clemson football is today.
Swinney is a traditionalist and loves all the pageantry of the entirety of bowl season, from the Rose Bowl to something he likes to call “the Funky Cold Medina” Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl.
“I love all the funky matchups,” Swinney said. “There’s obviously a market for it because the TVs help put it on there. I love the trips that I have experienced as a player and a coach.”
Swinney’s second-ranked Tigers find themselves in the Playoff for the fourth consecutive year. They will play the Fighting Irish on Dec. 29 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. But even though Clemson has been able to enjoy the success of being in the Playoff these past four years, he believes that not getting there shouldn’t define the value of your season.
“We’ve benefited from being able to get into the final four. It’s hard. And I hate the fact that all of a sudden now it’s not cool to go to the Gator Bowl? Are you kidding me? I don’t like that mindset,” Swinney continued. “I think the more you expand, the less the season matters.
“Now all of a sudden we’re in the Playoffs and it doesn’t matter if you’re 9-3 or 8-4, you’re in the playoffs. And then the games don’t matter anymore and some of the games you don’t even play them. You just sit everybody. I think that would creep in more and more.”
The argument for and against expansion will only continue and Swinney knows he doesn’t get a deciding vote in the discussion. But he loves this time of year, as so many of us do as all of the bowl games start to kick off.
If there is an expansion one day, Swinney said he’ll “embrace” the decision made. But whether the College Football Playoff is two teams, four teams, eight teams - whatever, Swinney’s final team goal will always be the same:
Win the closer.
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