Kalen DeBoer explains positives of expanded College Football Playoff

Count Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer as one who would be in favor of a further expanded College Football Playoff. At SEC Media Days, DeBoer was asked about the pros of a 24-team CFP.

Simply put, there could be more at state late in the season. Not only that, DeBoer is of the mind that teams would want to fight for those playoff spots or compete in the early round games as compared to bowl games.

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It seems like lower tier bowl games are going the way of the dodo bird at this point. So why not add more playoff games to spice things up?

“You could talk me into each scenario a little bit, I’m more focused on just winning every single game that we have, and then you know, not having it put in a committee’s hands,” DeBoer said, via Sirius XM. “But I do think, based on your question, the end of the season, those games, instead of bowl games, you’re having more teams competing for do or die situations, you know? Win and move on or lose and go home, and you know, those are the fun games to be a part of. 

“Those are the fun games for the fans to watch. So, I think those, instead of bowl games, I think there is a big difference in more teams competing for ultimately, you know, an opportunity to continue in the playoffs.”

DeBoer and Alabama were the beneficiaries of the expanded playoff last season, albeit the 12-team version. In the old school four-team bracket, the Crimson Tide would’ve been on the far outside looking in.

Alabama got in as the No. 9 seed and traveled to No. 8 Oklahoma, an SEC foe. After defeating the Sooners, DeBoer and crew faced No. 1 Indiana, the eventual national champion, in the Rose Bowl.

To be fair, DeBoer has seen both sides of the coin, having led Washington to the national title game vs. Michigan a few years ago in the four-team CFP era. To expand it to 24 teams now is controversial to some, but it seems like more are getting on board. That includes DeBoer.

Funny enough, DeBoer isn’t the only coach open to change. But it’s Texas coach Steve Sarkisian that would like to reverse course and change things back to a four-team bracket, as well as emphasize conference play, tournament style.

“Okay, but if we went back to four, we could have our own SEC playoff for the SEC Championship game, because now the conference has expanded to where not everybody gets to play each other anymore,” Sarkisian said in part. “And so if we had our own mini playoff that could lead to an SEC Championship game, and that winner, you know, is going to the Final Four, and maybe even the team they beat is going to the Final Four, but everybody knows we all knew when those four teams played, those were the best four teams.”

All in all, DeBoer’s comments aren’t surprising with more teams and coaches getting on board with potential expansion. But as it stands, it seems the powers that be (the SEC and Big Ten) can’t come to an agreement at the moment, so it remains at 12, for now.