Penn State's James Franklin Addresses Playoff Qualifiers, Conference Imbalance

The Nittany Lions head coach discussed proposals regarding the Big Ten's automatic qualifiers for the College Football Playoff.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin signals from the sideline during the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Ohio State coach Ryan Day recently told ESPN that the Big Ten would deserve at least four automatic qualifiers in an expanded 16-team College Football Playoff. Asked whether he agrees with Day's suggestion, Penn State coach James Franklin repeated some themes he has addressed over the past few years.

Franklin wants every college football team to be in a conference. He wants teams to play the same number of conference games. And he wants a commissioner to oversee college football. Until those issues are addressed, Franklin said the playoff format isn't his primary concern.

“I guess what I’m saying is, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about that,” Franklin said during a recent media availability in State College. “I agree with [Day's] argument based off all the things that I just said. It’s not even. So, why should it be even on the back end [regarding] who gets in when it’s not even on the front end?

"Our conferences are built differently. Everybody shouldn’t get the same vote, every conference shouldn’t get the same vote. A Penn State vote shouldn’t be the same vote as a School X. I won’t mention a School X because I don’t want to disrespect anybody, but they’re not the same. And the way it worked in the old NCAA structure is, everybody got the same vote. And I guess what I’m saying is ... it’s not even. But let’s spend as much time as we possibly can on trying to get it consistent across the board to help with all these issues on the back end.”

Franklin has advocated for consistency across college football for several years. Before the Fiesta Bowl in December, Franklin nominated former Alabama coach Nick Saban to be commissioner of college football. At the Orange Bowl, Franklin sat next to Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and said this:

"I think everybody should be in a conference. I think everybody should play a conference championship game or no one should play a conference championship game. I think everybody should play the same number of conference games."

So when asked about Day's Big Ten advocacy, Franklin returned to those points. He revisited the imbalance between the Big Ten and SEC, which play a different number of conference games. He also noted that conference sizes aren't uniform. For instance, the Big Ten fields 18 teams to the SEC's 16.

"When you have some conferences playing nine games, some conferences playing a conference championship, some teams not in a conference, it makes it really difficult," Franklin said. "Then the other issue you’ve had in the past is, every conference, and every team, or every [athletic director] would have the same vote. If we have more teams in our conference now, and have a greater level of competition week in and week out, why should it be balanced? I think that is the discussion everybody’s kind of having."

As an example, Franklin said that Illinois would have been a strong playoff contender last season. The Illini went 9-3 and finished 20th in the final College Football Playoff rankings.

"I think people feel like Illinois is a good example from our conference, that you can make the argument deserved to be in," Franklin said. "And there’s arguments from other conferences, especially after how things played out the way they did. ... So I don’t have as strong of an opinion of how it should be on the back end [regarding automatic qualifiers]. I think the more important conversation is, what can we do on the front end to make it easier for all these decisions on the back end? If not, it’s going to be a constant struggle. That’s why I think the Big Ten and the SEC are saying we should get more [automatic qualifiers], because it’s not the same right now.”