Steve Sarkisian Says Expanding Playoff To 24 Teams Would Be A Knee-Jerk Reaction

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian recently spoke with Matt Hayes of USA Today Sports and pushed back against the idea of expanding the College Football Playoff to 24-teams.

Sarkisian called the discussion a knee-jerk reaction when there are bigger issues that need to be addressed.

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“The committee doesn’t have the bandwidth to watch that many games,” Sarkisian said. “They see the media and coaches polls, and they copy them. You’ve got a 12-team playoff, and that means there are at least 30 teams that impact it. Now all of a sudden, you want to go to 24? Now the polls become an even greater factor, because now you’re asking (the committee) to watch 40 teams a week — if not 50.”

“Everyone talks about NIL. But my biggest gripe is the selection committee,” Sarkisian said. “There’s no transparency on what exactly the committee is doing. We have to figure that out.”

“I’d go back to a four-team playoff, and have your own conference playoff to get the four teams if you want more inventory for your television partners,” Sarkisian said. “We have to think outside the box. Just adding teams and going to 24, that’s a very spastic view, thinking that’s going to solve the problem. Forever in college athletics, we don’t think about the unintended consequences of decisions we make. It’s all knee-jerk reactions. Look where it has gotten us.”

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