Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin wants to see the College Football Playoff expanded even more. According to On3’s Andy Staples, Kiffin advocated for a 16-team field during the SEC Spring Meetings this week.
“The best system would be 16, and it would be the 16 best,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin explained that he would get rid of automatic bids for the five highest-ranked conference champions as well. Instead, it would be the top 16 teams in the final CFP rankings of the season who earned a spot.
This past season was the first year that the Playoff used a 12-team format after previously consisting of only four teams. The Rebels ranked No. 14 in the final version of the CFP rankings and narrowly missed out on making the field after a 9-3 finish in the regular season.
A 16-team field would also eliminate the need for teams to receive first-round byes. The four-highest ranked conference champions received byes this past year, but going forward beginning in 2025, it will be the top four teams in the rankings regardless of whether they won their league title.
There have already been a couple of different proposal for what a 16-team playoff would look like. One is the “4-4-2-2-1″ model that would grant the Big Ten and SEC four bids apiece, the Big 12 and ACC two bids apiece and one bid to either Notre Dame or the highest ranked Group of 6 team. There remaining three bids would go to at-large teams.
The Big Ten has already backed that model and the SEC could do the same this week, but the other conferences aren’t likely to settle for less so easily. Another 16-team proposal would award the five-highest ranked conference champions automatic bids and 11 other teams at-large bids, much like the current 12-team format.
Much of the other schools in the SEC are on the same page as Lane Kiffin in that they would like to have less at-large bids in the College Football Playoff. Conference commissioner Greg Sankey further explained the league’s stance.
“In our own room, I’ve had athletic directors tell me directly that we’ve given too much away to arrive at these political compromises. That we moved teams from outside the 12 in, and we’ve spoken about that before. How many of those compromises does it take?” Sankey said Monday. “… I think the word ‘hope’ is at the center too. How do you bring people into the conversation late in the season that’s changing environments.
“So the idea of could you have play-in type games continues to populate itself before you’re in the CFP selection. That’s about building interest and giving hope. Whether that’s the ultimate destination, we’ll see. But, to your question, … why do people think about it, even if it costs us something? You could have more teams perhaps involved late in the season through that model.”
