Thank goodness an expanded 12-team playoff starts this season because, more than any other sport, college football needs a fresh batch of contenders to eradicate its staleness.
It’s no guarantee that eight additional playoff spots will change the narrative of the same programs — mostly from a behemoth Southeastern Conference that just got stronger by cherry-picking Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 — dominating the national landscape.
Georgia and head coach Kirby Smart were barely squeezed out of the CFP last year, denying the Bulldogs a chance to become a three-peat national champion. In Nick Saban’s final season at Alabama, the Crimson Tide was one defensive stop against Michigan away from playing for its fourth national title in nine years.
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Over the last decade, a 4-team CFP format only exacerbated a way-too-predictable postseason storyline. College football went through eight consecutive years of either ‘Bama, Georgia or Clemson being in the national championship game.
Not that college basketball is a valid comparison because a lot more schools have the resources to compete on that Final Four stage. But at least March Madness offers variety, not the same old script.
In the last 10 basketball Final Fours, 28 different schools got there and only three programs (North Carolina, Villanova and UConn) made three appearances.
Over a decade of college football sending four teams to its playoff, only 15 schools made a national semifinal and six programs — Clemson, ‘Bama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan and Georgia — took up 29 of the 40 spots.
Forget parity. That’s closer to a monopoly or cartel.
SEC may just keep on rolling
With the incompetence of Pac-12 leadership leading to the implosion of a Power 5 conference, it’ll be interesting to see if 10 former members scattering off to the Big 12, Big Ten and ACC will elevate any of those programs — Oregon being an exception — beyond their mostly current state of mediocrity.
Sure, eight more playoff spots will provide greater access for non-conference champions from the Power 4 to make the postseason, but what are the chances of the championship hardware being spread beyond the SEC?
Big Ten champion Michigan won it all last year, but with head coach Jim Harbaugh gone, the Wolverines’ future as a consistent national force becomes a bit murky. The Big Ten’s impact on the expanded CFP might well depend on whether newcomers Oregon and USC can bring as much muscle as Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
This much is certain: the 16-team SEC is likely going to put three or four teams in the CFP every year (ESPN’s Heather Dinich projected five for 2024) and probably has the best chance of getting a three-loss team in that mix.
Georgia must play Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss on the road, plus a neutral-site game against Clemson, so that schedule is going to give the Bulldogs a longer leash with the selection committee than most contenders. The same for Texas, which faces Oklahoma and Georgia in back-to-back weeks.
We’ll see how new ‘Bama coach Kalen DeBoer handles the massive Saban shadow, but at least he has strong returning quarterback Jalen Milroe to help navigate his transition. Road games against Wisconsin, Tennessee, LSU and Oklahoma, plus a home showdown with Georgia, might also allow the Crimson Tide to sneak into a playoff at 9-3.
Can newbies get in playoff mix?
The bigger question is whether programs accustomed to exclusion from the CFP can crash the 12-team party? Mike Norvell has milked the transfer portal enough to make Florida State a contender, but only if incoming quarterback DJ Uiagalelei becomes a more accurate passer.
It’d make for a more compelling college football season if a former powerhouse like Miami, which looks to have a legit QB in Washington State transfer Cam Ward, came out of its 20-year hibernation. A 12-team playoff might be just what underachieving Penn State needs to hit the big time under James Franklin.
Maybe in two or three years, Florida or Power 4 newcomer UCF can have a turn in the playoff spotlight.
Whatever it takes to have newbloods in the postseason, and not just members of a chaotic 16-team SEC, would be a good thing.
College football is better off with a dozen teams in the CFP. But let’s see a fresh batch of contenders playing for the hardware, not just the usual suspects.
Jaguars’ Darby wanted Pederson reunion
When Jaguars cornerback Ronald Darby became a free agent after the 2023 season, he knew he’d be leaving the Baltimore Ravens and changing teams for the fourth time in five years.
The decision to come to Jacksonville wasn’t so much about money — a two-year deal worth $8.5 million and $5.5 million guaranteed — or the makeup of the roster, albeit being aware of promising quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Darby didn’t even bother to scan a depth chart. He just told his agent to make the deal because of one factor: head coach Doug Pederson.
“I experienced him in Philly and how he was as a coach,” Darby said of his three seasons with the Eagles from 2017-19, including the Super Bowl title year. “I always told myself I’d play for him again. That was a key thing.
“I love playing for Doug. He will get the best out of you. He’s not going to overdo things. He’s going to keep it straight to the point and just be real with you. That’s something I respect from a head coach.”
Darby, a projected starter this season, would be the first player on a Pederson 53-man roster in both Philadelphia and Jacksonville.
Revolving doors for Slater, Baumann
Two big-league ballplayers with Jacksonville connections have had to keep moving companies on speed dial this season.
Outfielder Austin Slater, a Bolles School product who spent his entire 10-year career in the San Francisco Giants organization, was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on July 7 for left-handed pitcher Alex Young. Just as the trade deadline was about to expire Tuesday, the Reds dealt him to the Baltimore Orioles with shortstop Livan Soto for a player to be named later.
The Reds traded Slater to make room for the return of first baseman Ty France. The good news for Slater is he’s going to a contender that will likely use him in a platoon role against left-handed pitching.
For ex-Jacksonville University pitcher Michael Baumann, a third-round draft pick of the Orioles in 2017, the MLB revolving door has been spinning even harder. Baltimore traded him on May 22 to the Seattle Mariners, where he appeared in 18 games with a 5.51 ERA until he was designated for assignment on July 19.
San Francisco claimed Baumann on July 21 and he pitched one game for the Giants before his release on July 27. On Wednesday, the 6-foot-4 right-hander was traded to the Los Angeles Angels.
Given Baumann’s short stints with two clubs and ineffectiveness in Seattle, it’s hard to gauge what his opportunity with the Angels might look like.
Quick-hitting nuggets
Here’s some interesting neighborhood footnotes while compiling the rankings of the 100 Greatest Athletes from the Jacksonville area: Olympic swimming gold medalists Nancy Hogshead Makar and Martin Lopez-Zubero grew up across the street from one another in San Marco. Meanwhile, the girl next door to Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Harold Carmichael, just two blocks from Raines High on the Northside, was 1984 Olympic track and field sprinter and multiple-medalist Chandra Cheeseborough. …
Former Fletcher High tennis star and ATP Tour player David Witt spent a large majority of his teaching career guiding WTA stars Venus Williams and Jessica Pegula, but is now coaching an ATP player for the first time. Witt recently started working with American Frances Tiafoe, who broke into the top 10 last year and has slipped to No. 29 in the world. …
Anyone who thinks North Carolina football coach Mack Brown, who turns 73 on Aug. 27, is too old for smack talk, should check out this statement from ACC Media Days: “Every coach recruiting against us says I’m going to quit. And six of them have been fired that said that already. So they ought to be worried about themselves.” Not sure how much of what Brown said is true, but it was a great sound bite.
gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Expanded 12-team playoff gives college football different look | Frenette
