Critics loudly complain the high level of competition and the intimacy of the College Football Playoff effectively have been forever lost with expansion that doubles the field to a 24-team model beginning in 2027, arguing that even a four-loss team now stands to advance and muddy up the proceedings.
Jedd Fisch begs to differ, suggesting that everyone wins with the new plan that brings more involvement.
"I think it would benefit the University of Washington and college football going forward," the Husky coach said flatly this week.
Fisch says with so much money necessary in college football, the system has to reward more teams with a championship possibility, that it has to provide more of a return to those shelling out the finances.
The game also needs to better reward the players with playoff possibilities because they've been asked to make college football a 12-month time commitment.
Fisch thinks the NCAA basketball and baseball tournaments have worked so well, football needs to join them.
"You need to be able to play the percentages," the Husky coach said. "If you have 68 Power 4 teams and 130 regular teams, of all teams, you've got to have at least 30, 35 percent to have a chance to play the next week, to continue with their season. I think it's good for college football to have what basketball and baseball have."
A playoff berth, the expansion supporters will tell you, enables more college football programs to finish on an upbeat note, makes it easier to raise NIL money to bankroll the players and provides job security for more coaches.
Over the past decade, the Huskies twice have advanced to the CFP when it was a four-team competition. With three losses this season, the UW likely will never play in the 12-team format that will last two seasons.
"For Washington, like I've said this a million times, we have asked universities, media and fans and all these people to help subsidize athletes, and to only allow that money to be spent 12 weeks a year, that's hard," Fisch said. "You want to see these kids keep going and have the opportunity to keep playing."
More teams is better. More money spent on talent is inevitable. Finding more ways to fund raise is practically non-negotiable.
"Like when you're paying rosters like we're paying them, and like we're going to have to continue to pay, and pay them more than we're paying them as the years continue, there has to be some version or a lie, that there's more than a 12-game season. ... I think it's just better for college football and better for TV," Fisch said.
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