A Pageant, Not a Playoff: Coaches Push College Football Toward a True Postseason

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee knows that the current version of the College Football Playoff is a playoff in a name only. Last year, he spent the first week of December making a public case for his Mustangs’ inclusion in the 12-team field over a three-loss Alabama team, something that doesn’t happen in true playoffs. 

He points to every other level of football as proof. In the Texas high school playoffs, the top four teams in each district are guaranteed a spot in the field. It doesn’t matter if the fifth-best team in a loaded district would beat the champions in half of the other districts across the state.