How hypothetical betting lines would have looked for 8-team Playoff in 2019
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Would expanding the College Football Playoff to 8 teams actually make the tournament more competitive? Or, would it just stop certain teams from complaining that they were left out of the field?
That’s the question ESPN announcer Chris Fowler addressed on Twitter this week, tweeting out hypothetical lines for an 8-team 2019 Playoff.
As you can see below, the hypothetical lines have LSU, Ohio State and Clemson as 20+ point favorites over their lower-ranked quarterfinal foes:
I understand frustration that fuels 8-team CFP talk. But check Vegas would view the first round matchups. It’s a top heavy era. pic.twitter.com/FPGPIobNEg
— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) December 10, 2019
Would the final four teams be different under this model? Sure, big upsets happen often in college football, but more often than not, the top 2-3 seeds would probably advance easily.
Still, this is perhaps the best way to ensure fewer teams are left out of the field and complaining at the end of the year.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
