College Football Playoff 2019: What would a 16-team field look like?
By John Scimeca
Now that the 2019 College Football Playoff field is announced, we can only imagine: what would a hypothetical 16-team playoff look like?
As the dust settles from the endless debates surrounding this year’s four-team College Football Playoff lineup, can’t we all agree that a 16-team format would be more infinitely more enjoyable?
Consider the positives: Each conference champion would have an automatic bid, thus ensuring that every team at the Division I FBS level would have the ability to truly compete for a national title. Teams with a legitimate chance of winning the title would not be excluded. Additional Power 5 programs would have access to college football’s grandest team prize, too.
Perhaps most importantly, an expanded playoff field would reduce the number of meaningless postseason games featuring talented yet disappointing teams. Maybe teams like Michigan and Florida could play in postseason games that matter — as long as they qualify in the 16-team format.
The first-round games could be held at campus sites, with a rotation of the current New Year’s Six bowls coming into play for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and national title games.
Ten total conference champions would qualify in addition to six at-large teams. All teams would be seeded according to the CFP Committee’s rankings.
What would a 16-team college football playoff look like in 2019?