LEXINGTON, Ky. — On Saturday night, Mark Stoops earned his 60th career win as Kentucky’s football coach with No. 20 UK’s uneven 37-13 victory over Miami (Ohio).
Afterward, the Wildcats head man (60-53 since 2013) was asked about the significance of tying the iconic Paul “Bear” Bryant (60-23-5 from 1946 through 1953) for the all-time Kentucky wins lead.
Stoops replied that he didn’t think his name belonged in the same sentence with a coach — Bryant — who won six national championships.
“But I am grateful to win that many games, to be (at Kentucky) this long,” Stoops said. “And we have a long way to go, you know. And I’m excited to keep building this program.”
For coaches, like Stoops, who are trying to build lasting legacies at schools, like Kentucky, that are not traditional football powers, last Friday brought welcome news: The College Football Playoff Board of Managers voted unanimously to expand the postseason tournament that determines the FBS national champion from four to 12 teams by no later than 2026.
There’s no guarantee that UK will ever make a 12-team playoff. But the chances of Kentucky earning a berth in a system with six at-large bids plus the six highest-ranked league champions should be much better for future Wildcats teams than has existed for UK under the current playoff format of the four highest-ranked teams.
The problem with the four-team playoff — which went into effect starting with the 2014 regular season — is that there has not been nearly enough parity in college football to support such a system.
Over the eight years of the College Football Playoff, there have been 32 berths earned by participants. Of those 32 tournament bids, four schools — Alabama (seven), Clemson (six), Ohio State (four) and Oklahoma (four) — have combined to fill 21 of them.
Add in Georgia and Notre Dame, who have each made the CFP twice, and six schools have occupied 25 of the 32 playoff spots.
If nothing else, a 12-team playoff will give more fan bases and more players a chance to experience meaningful postseason contests. It will also empower far more programs with at least semi-realistic aspirations of going to the playoffs.
All of that should be energizing for college football and its constituencies.
Of the three best Kentucky Wildcats football teams of the 21st century, none would have qualified for a 12-team playoff. All three, however, would have been in position at some points in their seasons in which they would have been seen as viable playoff contenders.
How jacked would the Big Blue Nation have been during those weeks when Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Chris Fowler were discussing Kentucky’s playoff merits on “College GameDay”?
— The 2007 Wildcats, coached by Rich Brooks and quarterbacked by Andre Woodson, entered the AP Top 25 at No. 21 after upsetting No. 9 Louisville in week three of the season.
After recording a road win at defending SEC West champ Arkansas, Kentucky moved up to No. 14. Following their three-overtime upset of No. 1-ranked and eventual national champion LSU, the ‘07 Cats reached No. 8.
Under a 12-team playoff system, Kentucky would have been a projected participant in the week following its LSU win.
Alas, injuries and the grind of the SEC schedule caused the 2007 Cats to go 1-4 down the stretch — which, obviously, would have knocked UK out of playoff contention.
— Stoops and the 2018 Wildcats of Benny Snell and Josh Allen stood at No. 17 after starting the SEC portion of their schedule 2-0 (UK was 4-0 overall) with upsets of No. 25 Florida and No. 14 Mississippi State.
When Kentucky took a 7-1 record into a SEC East winner-take-all showdown with Georgia, the Cats were ranked No. 11. Even after losing to Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, UK was still ranked No. 12 and — under a 12-team playoff format — would still have been alive for a berth.
An upset loss in Knoxville to an eminently mediocre Tennessee team would have ended UK’s playoff dreams — but how great would it have been for Kentucky backers to have had CFP aspirations into the 10th week of the season?
— Led by Wan’Dale Robinson and Josh Paschal, last season’s UK football team was ranked No. 11 in the AP poll after it started 6-0. That was the same week in which the Cats were headed into a matchup with Georgia to determine the SEC East lead.
In a world with a 12-team playoff, Kentucky would have been very much in the discussion.
A three-game league losing streak against Georgia, Mississippi State and Tennessee would have derailed Kentucky’s playoff hopes. But with a 12-team tournament, UK would have made it to the second half of the 2021 season with legitimate hopes of earning a playoff bid.
As things are under the current system, fans of about six schools begin each season able to realistically envision their teams competing for the national championship.
At the least, a 12-team playoff will extend to more and different fan bases the opportunity to dream — viably — of seeing your school in a College Football Playoff.
Whatever other issues there are with the way college football is being governed, expanding the playoff is an eminently wise move.
