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TCU Football: Frogs’ Cheez-It Bowl a caution for CFB Playoff expansion

By Matthew Bartlett

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 26: Wide receiver Ni'Jeel Meeking #19 of the TCU Horned Frogs is unable to catch a pass ahead of cornerback Camryn Bynum #24 of the California Golden Bears during the first half of the Cheez-it Bowl at Chase Field on December 26, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 26: Wide receiver Ni'Jeel Meeking #19 of the TCU Horned Frogs is unable to catch a pass ahead of cornerback Camryn Bynum #24 of the California Golden Bears during the first half of the Cheez-it Bowl at Chase Field on December 26, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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College Football Playoff expansion debate continues, but the Cheez-It Bowl should serve as a warning for those who want to add more teams to the field.

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The 2018 Cheez-It Bowl was one of the worst displays of college football of the entire season. The postseason event had it all — if by all, you mean overtime, a penalty on TCU sports information director Mark Cohen, a quarterback with drop foot, nine interceptions and the phrase “kicker roulette” being mentioned in the broadcast. The game was an unmitigated disaster on every front imaginable.

This was bad football and further evidence for the argument against College Football Playoff expansion. Cal entered the game 7-5. TCU entered game 6-6. Both teams were far from Playoff-caliber, but if expansion talks progress, the path to low-quality teams making the final field becomes increasingly more and more likely, an idea that’s not as crazy as it sounds.

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The current system affords zero chance for a team like TCU or Cal to compete for a national title. A revised system featuring any amount of automatic bids opens the door for a subpar team to make the field. Impossible? Not really.

Pitt ended the regular season 7-5 before falling to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. If something weird happens, Pitt is in the Playoff as the ACC Champion. Is Pitt that much better than Cal or TCU? At worst, it’s a push.

But you don’t need to get all the way to TCU-Cal to realize the line must be drawn much closer than most challengers care to admit. The quantity of elite Playoff-caliber teams is thin. Some years there might be two elite teams, other years there might be six. All expansion does is open the door for less-talented teams to clog up a Playoff which has already had its fair share of blowouts while only taking the Top 4 teams.

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More teams gives more opportunities to teams like TCU. You didn’t want to watch TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl and you certainly don’t want them anywhere near the Playoff. So don’t give them, or any other number of non-elite teams, that chance.

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