College football's expanded playoff faces new snag: Conference rematches

One potential obstacle college football's decision makers have noticed in the expanded playoff could be a scheduling issue fans may not enjoy

College football's new 12-team playoff makes its debut in 2024, but there's one possible scheduling issue. / Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch /

College football is yet to even debut its expanded 12-team playoff format, and already some of the sport's key decision makers may have found an issue with the scheduling format.

According to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger, the FBS commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director ran a projected 12-team playoff based off the rankings from the 2022 season to get a preview of what it would look like. That's when one problem arose: first-round conference rematches.

That's something just about every fan would like to avoid, but there isn't any existing rule in the current format that makes the selection committee avoid those rematches.

One possible solution could be something similar to what the NCAA does in its selection for the basketball tournament: create a rule stating that first-round games have to be played between teams from separate conferences. But with a relatively small field of 12 teams, it could be difficult.

Moreover, the recent tidal wave of conference realignment means that leagues are bigger than before, making it more likely that teams with more representation could create rematches.

By Dellenger's estimation and going on the proposed rankings system, there would have been seven first-round conference rematches over the 10 years of the playoff. Far too many to fans' liking.

Time will tell as to what the College Football Playoff will implement to answer the question, and even then it could be that rematches of this kind are unavoidable.

(Yahoo)

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