Last summer the popular push was a 12 team playoff.
This spring the idea of an 8 team playoff was popular. My guess, largely to tweak the SEC
In the last couple weeks, it seems like there is a lot on the internet about a 16 team playoff. My guess is that serves the interest of the SEC & Big10:
- Allows the SEC & Big10 to dominate the playoff (getting 10-12 playoff teams).
- Give the ACC, Big12, Pac12 and G5 schools a playoff path.
IMO the key isn't the # of playoff teams, but how CFB Playoff $ will be split. Currently, I believe approximately:
- 18% goes to G5 conferences,
- Around 77% is split evenly among P5 Conferences
- About 5% goes to the 4 playoff teams.
The biggest opportunity for the Big10/SEC is how the $1.5-$2.0B of CFB Playoff $ are split. Would not surprise me if playoff teams don't get a much, much bigger share than 5%. Maybe we see something along the lines of:
- 5% goes to G5 conferences
- 60% is split evenly among P5 Conferences
- 35% is split among the 16 team's (and/or their conferences) according to advancement.
The playoff $ could be used by the Pac12, ACC or Big12 to keep their elite teams in conference vs. jumping to Big10 or SEC. If making a quarter or semi final game would guarantee a Clemson, Miami, Oregon or Washington a large payout (e.g. $50M), they might want to be a big fish in a small pond.
It could also go a long ways in keeping USC,Texas, Oklahoma, Penn State, A&M, Florida, etc. happy in their elite conferences.