DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Like so many college football fans out there, Charles Woodson wants to see the College Football Playoff expand beyond the four teams it currently invites to compete for a national championship each year.
“I think eight teams is a good number,” Woodson said in response to For The Win’s expansion question at Daytona International Speedway ahead of the 2022 Daytona 500. He was the Grand Marshal for the race, delivering the command for drivers to start their engines Sunday.
“If it can get to 12, that’d be good too.”
Unfortunately for Woodson and everyone else who agrees with him, College Football Playoff expansion isn’t happening any time soon. Despite a proposal last year to expand it to 12 teams, playoff leaders couldn’t agree and opted to stick with four teams through the end of the 12-year contract expiring after the 2025 season, ESPN reported Friday.
That doesn’t mean the playoff couldn’t or won’t expand at some point; it’s just not in the relatively foreseeable future.
IT'S GO TIME! @CharlesWoodson delivers the most famous words in motorsports! #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/c4enXCWxfM
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Despite that, Woodson argued expansion would offer more variety and give more teams — such as conference champions that otherwise wouldn’t make the top four — a shot at proving their worth.
“Every year, it seems like it’s the same couple of teams,” Woodson continued. “Of course, Alabama’s always in it,” the former Michigan Wolverine continued. “Can’t fault them for being a great team. But we have more teams that are competitive, like Cincinnati this year, who was an undefeated team.
“I just think you need to open up the pool to at least eight teams. I’m a fan of football. So the more football I can see is great. There’s a lot of teams out there that say, ‘Hey, we should have the opportunity to be in a playoff. We have a good team.’ Well, there’s only one way to find that out.”
Of course, playoff expansion could mean an extended season for unpaid players and increase the risk of injuries. And Woodson recognized that and said there would need to be a fair solution for them.
“I think you got to think about the pay as well,” he added. “I know that players now can make money as far as their NIL is concerned. But if you’re going to add four teams to the playoffs, that’s a long season for college players, so you got to figure out that aspect of it as well.”
