College football continues to evolve at the speed of sound. The latest development is a new system for the College Football Playoff. Starting in 2027, the field will expand from 12 teams to 24. For a program like Virginia, that could change everything.
The gut reaction for many is that the expanded Playoff could be a great boon for Virginia. Coach Tony Elliott thinks so — but with one big asterisk.
"I think a big picture, there's pros and cons," Elliott said at Tuesday media availability. "I like the fact that it just gives more teams an opportunity to play, I think if you look at college football, you just look at the parity, right? Like, man, we're sitting here, like, all frustrated that we're 4-3, right?"
At surface level, 4-3 seems mediocre. However, there are only six teams with a better ACC record than the Cavaliers. If Virginia were to win out and get one or two results to go its way, it could very well wind up as high as second place. Right now, it would mean a blowout loss in Charlotte and a trip to the Duke's Mayo Bowl at best.
Next year, that same result could be a trip to the CFP instead.
Elliott noted that because the Power Four is so deep, records might not adequately reflect the true pecking order of college football.
"We let a couple of games get away that we could have had a chance to win, but we're 4-3," Elliott said. "And there's a lot of good football teams that are sitting there at 3-4, right? Or 3-3, right? And so, I just think that there's, in this landscape, there's just a lot more parity."
"Trying to find the 12 best [teams this year is] going to be a challenge," Elliott said. "And heck, it might even be a challenge trying to find 24 as you go forward, right? Because it seems like anybody can beat anybody on any given Saturday, like truly, can beat anybody. So, I think it just gives more teams options to have an opportunity for the postseason."
Once upon a time, "postseason" meant a bowl game. It seems like just yesterday when the New Year's Six bowls were considered a high honor. Now, they are reserved for the CFP while only the Gator Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Holiday Bowl and Pop-Tarts Bowl remain as prestigious games.
With a 24-team CFP, bowl games are rendered from useless to basically extinct. Any Power Four team can get into the dance if they win 10 games in the regular season (or nine, under certain circumstances). However, as Elliott noted, the feeling of snubs could become more egregious than ever.
The CFP committee might have to choose between a 7-5 Big Ten team with a few marquee wins and a 9-3 ACC team with a few tight losses. Regardless of how that shakes out, thousands of alumni, students and fans will be unhappy.
However, if the Cavaliers can find their way into the late teens or early twenties of the rankings, they could very well be on their first Playoff voyage in program history — maybe as soon as 2027.
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