New CFP Proposal: The Question Isn’t “Why?” But “Why Did It Take So Long?”
By Ken Reed
When it comes to college football at the highest level, the move from a four-team playoff to a 12-team playoff has always been a no-brainer.
A 12-team playoff makes the regular season more interesting for a lot of teams — and their fans. It also makes the championship playoff more exciting; the current four-team playoff has become boring. A 12-team playoff will also generate a lot more money for each conference, including the smaller ones that need it most.
The League of Fans has long called for a 16-team playoff (see here and here). But we’ll take the 12-team proposal recently announced by a College Football Playoff subcommittee.
With the 12-team proposal, the subcommittee has basically admitted the four-team playoff was a bad idea. I think the primary reason they did it originally was to try to retain some legitimacy for all the silly bowl games. Well, the stands at most bowl games these days are 80% empty. The old bowl concept is basically dead. However, twelve teams, with multiple games on New Year’s Day, would allow college football to own New Year’s Day again.
Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State have taken 11 of the 14 title game spots the last seven years under the current format. There was never any kind of equal opportunity or parity with a 4-team playoff. The same conferences and teams dominated. Smaller (Group of Five) conferences (and the Pac-12 which has struggled getting a representative in the four-team playoff) still face an uphill battle, but a 12-team playoff at least gives every FBS team a shot.
Everyone that starts a season — in any sport — deserves an opportunity to win the championship, even if the odds are long. The four-team playoff model didn’t give every conference and every team a chance. Ethically, it was unsustainable.
With the proposed 12-team playoff, the odds are still stacked against smaller conferences. But like the NCAA’s highly-successful March Madness basketball tourney, with a 12-team playoff, all FBS teams will now at least have a chance.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans

Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. He previously covered the Los Angeles Dodgers for The Athletic. His new book is titled “How to Beat a Broken Game: The Rise of the Dodgers in a League on the Brink.” We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
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Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
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