Jedd Fisch supports 24-team College Football Playoff, compares to NFL

As discussions about the College Football Playoff continue, the Big Ten continues to make its support clear for a 24-team format. That was apparent at the conference’s spring meetings, and Washington coach Jedd Fisch compared it to the NFL’s playoff system.

Fisch spent 14 years of his coaching career in the NFL as an assistant, serving on staffs for the Seattle Seahawks’ NFC West title team in 2010 and the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl appearance in 2018. At the professional level, 14 of the 32 teams – roughly 43.8% – make the playoffs after the league expanded the postseason format in 2020.

In the college game, 12 teams currently make CFP under the current format. Fisch said expanding the field to 24 teams would bring college football more in line with the NFL and, as a result, potentially bring more of a return on investment for rosters.

“I 100% agree with it,” Fisch said of a 24-team bracket on SiriusXM College Sports Radio. “I look at it this way. You’ve got 14 NFL teams that make the playoffs out of 32, which is about 44%. If you only have 12 teams make the playoffs out of 138, you’re at about less than 10%. That’s a whole lot of work that you’re asking these kids, these coaches, these programs, these donors to fund to have a 10% chance to continue on and compete.

“So if you say, ‘Well, only the top 68 teams, the Power Four.’ Well, alright. If you take 12 of 68, you’re still not there. You’re still at, like, 25%. But if you take 24 out of 68, you’re at about 30%. That is a little less than the NFL, but much closer to what we’re trying to accomplish where teams are always capable of trying to get to the postseason. That’s what makes the NFL the best in the world.”

Fisch recalled his time with the Seahawks when the franchise went 7-9 and, by virtue of a tiebreaker, made the postseason. They beat the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card Round – the “Beast Quake” game – before falling to the Chicago Bears in the Divisional game.

Fisch’s point was about the additional opportunities for teams that could make a run in the postseason. He also said conference championship games likely won’t be necessary, arguing for the national title to be the lone championship on the schedule.

“The moral of the story is, you have these opportunities to have incredible games throughout the whole year,” Jedd Fisch said. “That’s why 24 is critical. The other part of it is, you could not have a conference championship game if you have the 24-team playoffs. You don’t have an NFC Championship game before you have another championship game.

“Let’s just have the playoffs, and then, lead to a national championship. I think we can only do that if we bring in 24 teams.”