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Dan Lanning argues for 24-team College Football Playoff model
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- Dan Lanning argues for 24-team College Football Playoff model
The talk around expansion for the College Football Playoff is peaking. Expansion appears more likely than ever. The Oregon Ducks have become a force in the Big Ten and made the playoff in each of the past two seasons in the 12-team format, so expansion does little to help the Ducks in the future. In fact, it only serves to add more competition as the program hunts its first national championship.
However, Dan Lanning believes the expansion would be great for both the conference and college football as a whole. He made his stance very clear, alongside Ohio State coach Ryan Day , at the Big Ten spring meetings on Monday.
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"Is it necessarily best for the programs that have been in to say, 'Hey, let's invite more?' No, but is it better?" Lanning told ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "What's happened because of the College Football Playoff is every bowl game has been devalued, the end of the season looks completely different. You're a failure as a coach if you don't make it to the College Football Playoff."
Oregon stands nothing to gain from expansion, but Lanning's line of thinking aligns with the Big Ten's, which has pitched the 24-team playoff for nearly a year. The conference has won each of the past three national championships, both with the 4-team format and the current 12-team model. Why not try to get more teams in?
If the CFP were to expand again, it would follow a trend that the NCAA has set after expanding the NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams.
"It's going to create more opportunity," Lanning said. "Just like March Madness is great in the spring for basketball, it'll be good for our sport."
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Since the CFP bracket was introduced, it has constantly been compared to the March Madness bracket. However, the two sports are very different, and the idea of expansion has drawn backlash from the media and fans. The main fear is that a more accessible postseason will lead to a less meaningful regular season and more blowouts in the postseason. Some have raised concerns that teams in a position to make the playoffs would rest starters at the end of the regular season.
Lanning doesn't think that will be a big concern.
"Because of how the seeding would work, it's so valuable," Lanning said. "We're talking about 24 teams. The value of being the first-seeded team is so much more valuable than being fourth, even, that you're going to want to make sure you put yourself in that position. Could that happen? It could happen. But there's so many teams in the conversation, one loss can be a huge difference in being (seeded) 1 or 5 or 8."
Lanning has long voiced his frustration with college football's loaded calendar, arguing to move the season up to an earlier start date to avoid playing the biggest games at the same time as recruiting cycles wrap up and the transfer portal becomes a bigger factor. A bigger playoff and the possible elimination of conference championships would mean a loaded final month of games.
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The 12-team playoff will return for the 2026 season. The 24-team playoff must be voted on and agreed to before December 1 in order to put it in place for the 2027 season. Lanning's voice is one that matters as a representative for one of the biggest programs and brands in college football. As of now, Lanning and the Ducks have the best interests of the sport and the Big Ten in mind, looking beyond the program's easiest path to a championship.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dan Lanning among Big Ten coaches in favor of 24-team playoff
