Now the Big Ten Kinda Likes an Expanded Playoff

Sooner or later, they'll all come to the same conclusion.

Ironically, its the conference with 14 members that calls itself the Big Ten seeing the light.

Commissioner Jim Delany -- one of the most powerful voices in the Power Five -- got around to noticing that the College Football Playoff bracket is a bit restricted.

OG kinda warmed to the topic last month, but now he's saying his conference would definitely have conversations.

 

Could it be that this money-spinning outfit feels its share of the honey pot slighted a tad after watching back-to-back conference champion Ohio State Buckeyes be jilted both seasons by the CFP Selection Committee?

Big XII commish Bob Bowlsby -- whose conference knows CFP snubs -- was already sorta swayed last season, and that's on the heels when the XII's co-champions TCU and Baylor were both blindsided by blackballs in 2014.

 

Of course, the drumbeat for an expanded playoff has been around as long as the CFP itself.

Any consideration in that direction was gonna need at least one of two things to happen:

• An independent like Notre Dame or BYU was gonna have to claim a playoff spot, and/or
• An Other Five club was gonna have to make a serious case for inclusion.

The 12-0 Fighting Irish finally did their bit, and frankly, if UCF can at least be competitive against LSU in the Fiesta Bowl after beating Auburn last season, they'l have played two NFL Lite SEC teams straight up and would be difficult for the Committee to ignore as the 2019 campaign unfolded.

 

By far, the most popular bracket expansion proposal is an eight-team format composed of ...

• All Power Five champions,
• The biggest, baddest Other Five team out there, and
• Two at-large teams, which covers Notre Dame, BYU, and conference runners up.

Yes, a couple more games will be added to the schedule, but the FCS, Division II, and Division III student-athletes who definitely are student-athletes seem to being managing that sorta gauntlet just fine.

 

Odds are the Pac-12 would chime in with an affirmative statement, too, but their commissioner is too occupied trying to stay outta his own way.

But hell, that's a Power Five outfit, too, so all they need to do is float on the waves. Fortunately for them, West Coast waves are getting bigger.

 

This holiday season, the conference had better hope that dude's a Washington Husky.

Meanwhile, we can only hope that the call for bracket expansion only gets louder.