Ohio State AD Explains Why He Thinks College Football Playoff Should Keep Expanding

Buckeyes AD said playoff expansion would benefit the game.

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes had the biggest win of Week 1 to improve their own playoff chances. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It seems a foregone conclusion that the College Football Playoff is going to continue to expand, and proposals are already being written up for a field of 28 teams. People may not like it but anyone dreaming of going the other way and reducing the field is living in a fantasy.

Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork offered his thoughts on the state of the playoff while appearing on Front Office Sports Today hot on the heels of the Buckeyes posting an enormous season-opening victory over Texas. It's an interesting perspective because Ohio State is one of the few teams that have been able to count on playoff participation.

“Selfishly, Ohio State could stay at four; we could go back to four and most years, probably be okay," he said per Eleven Warriors. "At 12, we should be okay. We gotta keep doing our part, right? I mean, we gotta keep investing and keep coaching and keep recruiting at a high level,” Bjork said Wednesday during an interview with Front Office Sports. “But I'm a believer that for the good of the game, for the health of the game, for content, for high-level matchups, we should expand.”

“Could we go to 16? Could we go to 20?" Bjork added. "Could we go to 24? There's proposals out there to go to 28. There's been a couple other proposals to go to 32 … We all get hung up in these numbers; 24, 28. ‘Oh my God, they can't do this.’ But here's what you cannot argue with – nobody can argue with this – what's wrong with more high-level football? What's wrong with more meaningful postseason content? What's wrong with keeping the postseason alive for as many teams as possible? So to me, nobody can argue with that piece."

A few things can be true at the same time. Most people who will complain about the playoff getting too large are going to joyfully watch all of the exciting games they didn't want to see. But keeping the postseason alive for as many teams as possible comes at the cost of devaluing the regular season. College football will have to figure out how to strike the correct balance. Which is easier said than done.

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