SEC players, for the most part, are in support of the College Football Playoff

With the start of the college football season less than two weeks away, ESPN recently asked several of the SEC’s biggest stars their thoughts on the College Football Playoff, a wide-range of topics including the total number of teams, travel and injury concerns.

IS A FOUR-TEAM PLAYOFF A HEALTHY NUMBER?

• La’el Collins, LSU, OL: “I think it’s perfect — a four-team playoff. You get right to the point. If you lose, you go home and there’s two more teams (left). There it is, it’s simple.”
• Jeff Driskel, Florida, QB: “I don’t know if there’s a perfect way to do it, but I think that’s a good amount of games. You don’t want to be playing too many in the playoff because then guys’ bodies would be shot and coaches after the season wouldn’t have time to go out and recruit [as much]. They would lose out on a lot of recruiting opportunities.”
• Mack Crowder, Tennessee, C: “Four is plenty right now. Right now, four is what it is and I’m happy that that’s what it is. If they end up changing it, then I’ll be happy also.”
• Todd Gurley, Georgia, RB: “It’ll be just like high school again, I guess. It’s just one more game. I think everybody will be fine.”
• Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M, OL: “Four teams is better than two, so it’s a good start.”

DOES AN EXTRA GAME POSE INJURY CONCERNS?

• Landon Collins, Alabama, S: “That’s the sacrifice you make, but it all pays off in the end.”
• Dante Fowler, Florida, DL: “It’s a lot of games, but it’s something that you have to prep yourself up for and prepare yourself to just go. You’re going to have aches and injuries, and things like that, but if you want to win it takes hard work, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears.
• Crowder: “I just see it as more games, and I love playing games. You can get hurt literally at any point in the season. At the end of the season, some guys are going to be completely healthy, some guys are gonna be beat up.”

MORE TRAVEL MEANS ADDITIONAL COSTS FOR FAMILIES. THOUGHTS?

• Fowler: “You can watch us on TV. As long as we win, that’s all that matters.”
• Collins: “It’s definitely a concern. It’s something that guys’ families are going to have to start preparing themselves now.”
• Chris Conley, Georgia, WR: “Not every family can make that trip. The fact that there are more games and both are immensely huge games could make it difficult on a lot of families (to plan travel). I could see that happening. It’s not necessarily something that we thought about. But when we look at the schedule and we know how that’s going to play out, then some people have to start thinking about that, and some more than others.”

Brad Crawford