Author : college football/basketball writer @MattZemek, Editor at @TrojansWire .
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Recently we a post that favored the ACC’s playoff stance. Here is another perspective on the topic…
Just over a week ago, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips articulated the ACC’s opposition to the expansion of the College Football Playoff. To be clear, this isn’t a stance Phillips arrived at on his own. He is speaking for coaches and other stakeholders in the conference. However, Phillips could be exercising leadership to get the ACC on board, and that doesn’t seem to be happening.
“To the ACC, we don’t have a College Football Playoff problem,” Phillips said a few days after Georgia beat Alabama for the national championship. “We have a college football and collegiate athletics/NCAA problem.
“We don’t feel this is the right time [to expand]. It doesn’t foreclose in the future about having an expanded playoff.”
Phillips noted that ACC coaches “are unanimous this isn’t the right time.”
Why? Why would the ACC not want an expanded playoff? What is the value of opposing a playoff, especially after a year in which Clemson didn’t get in?
Why say this?
It’s fascinating that the ACC — ostensibly part of an alliance with the Pac-12 and Big Ten — would not be on the same page with the Pac-12. (The Big Ten is also opposing playoff expansion.) The Pac-12 and ACC, one would think, need annual playoff revenue. The 12-team plan pretty much guarantees a playoff berth (if not technically, it still makes it close to impossible to miss). That’s needed money for the conference.
I can’t help but wonder, with Jim Phillips wanting to step back and evaluate before committing to a plan: Is he basically waiting to see what happens with Clemson in 2022? Is that what this is all about? Is the ACC basically wanting to make sure Clemson football returns to its normal standards before having a more friendly stance toward the playoff?
It’s all very curious.
The ACC should want a 12-team playoff if we’re strictly focusing on revenue and growth. The ACC should feel that Clemson is going to make the playoff on a regular basis and not think 2021 is a sign of a significant downward shift for the Tigers. The 12-team format would give the ACC runner-up a chance to give the conference a second team. See if Mario Cristobal can elevate Miami to the point where the Hurricanes can become that second playoff team. It would give the conference something to shoot for. It would raise the bar for various programs.
Why is that not the strategy for the conference?
It’s all very curious.
The ACC needs to project strength, not fear. It needs to be aggressive, not passive.
This all strikes me as being afraid the SEC will have a four-team semifinal round in an expanded playoff. The ACC shouldn’t worry about that. It should focus on how it can build its own brand and reputation.
I talked about this on a YouTube show — with @MarkRogersTV — earlier this week:
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