Kirk Herbstreit calls for expansion of College Football Playoff to 16 teams
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Kirk Herbstreit appeared on ESPN on Sunday during the College Football Playoff Selection Show as the 12-team field was unveiled.
There was little debate over much of the way things played out, as a number of teams were a shoo-in to claim a spot. That being said, the biggest debate will surround the case of Miami making the Playoff over Notre Dame. That led to a groundswell of criticism across the world of college football.
Is the solution to situations like this simply expanding to 16 teams? Herbstreit thinks so.
Expanding to a 16-team field appears to be the next logical step in the evolution of the Playoff. The question is how that will look, exactly. Will it take on a 5+11 model, where the top five conference champions and eleven at-large teams are selected? Or could it be a 4+4+2+2 that favors the Power Four? In a 16-team playoff, a 5+11 model would see Notre Dame and BYU make the field as they were considered the First Two Out.
At the end of the day, sixteen teams in the Playoff seem to be an inevitability, and it has been for some time. The only question is what form that would take.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
