Swinney not a big fan of expanding Playoff: "Every game matters"

Swinney thinks adding teams to the Playoff will water down the product.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Dec 24 13:01:04 GMT-04:00 2020

The College Football Playoff Committee has come under fire since Sunday’s reveal of the top four teams, with many people saying that the format is outdated and needs to include more teams. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney thinks an expanded field takes away from the importance of regular-season games.

Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Notre Dame were chosen as the four participants in this year’s Playoff. Three of those teams aren’t strangers to the format – Clemson and Alabama have each made six appearances (both have played nine games and won two titles), while Ohio State has made four appearances in the Playoff. This is Notre Dame’s second year included in the Playoff.

However, some would argue that Texas A&M was also deserving of a shot, as were Group of 5 teams such as Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina.

Swinney knows the Committee has a tough task each year.

“I think the committee works hard to try to select who they think is the four best teams,” Swinney said. “So this is what they came up with. And obviously, you got really, really talented players on all four of these teams. If you're going to pick the four best year-in and year-out, you're probably going to have -- there are probably six or seven teams out there that really have a shot every year. Most given years, certainly Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Alabama and what they've done historically (will be in that group). But our program over the last decade, we've been able to elevate into that status as well.”

Swinney then went on to say that he likes the format, saying it makes college football unique.

“Yeah, I think the Playoff's been good, and I think it's created a lot of opportunity for, again, these type of games. I didn't have a problem with the BCS (Bowl Championship Series), even though it was just two teams,” Swinney said. “I still was okay with that, but this has kind of taken that and made it better. It kind of never ends. Everybody wants more and more and more. But it's unique. It's hard -- college football is really -- it's 130 teams. It's very difficult to get to this point, especially having consistency to be in the conversation. So I think it's great, and it's been fun to be a part of those type games. That's been one of the biggest things in helping us build our program, is going and competing against the best.”

However, a change to the format would not come as a surprise to Clemson’s head coach, but he also cautions against taking away from the importance of games earlier in the season.

“Nothing would surprise me with college football. That's the best way -- I don't have any definitive opinion one way or the other than nothing would surprise me as we move forward,” Swinney said. “Again, I think one of the reasons that college football is so popular is because every game matters. That game we played at V-Tech (Virginia Tech), it mattered. That game Florida played against LSU, it mattered. Is there a fine line? The more you expand, the less important the games become. All of a sudden, to me, it gets watered down and teams that know they're going to be in, next thing you know, you're resting guys -- you're not playing guys. It all becomes about that.

“What's the perfect number? Is it four? People say, ‘Well, yeah, four, and you're in it.’ But if you go to eight, I would think we would still have a chance to be in it, if we can get in it at four. I'm a little bit more of a traditional guy. Again, as I said, I was fine with the BCS, even though it was hard to be in just two teams and so subjective. I was fine with that. I like the bowls. I like the pageantry of college football. And I think the more and more it goes, the less and less the games matter. I don't know. Nothing would surprise me.”