Pat Forde: The CFP Debate Is Really About Fear and Self-Preservation

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Mike Elko, Texas A&M coach and great American, put the College Football Playoff expansion debate in perfect framing Tuesday.

“There’s two sides to that conversation,” he said at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings. “There’s the good of college football, where we better be really careful. I don’t know why we’re trying to become a trophy sport. Then there’s self-preservation. And so if you really ask me on record, what does Mike Elko want? I want 40 [teams in the playoff] because then I’ll make it and then I won’t get fired.”