Man in perfect position to win national championships likes things just as they are, thank you.
Dabo Swinney has opinions on the College Football Playoff, and boy are they bad. Speaking to reporters following practice Friday, Clemson's head coach said he actually favors going back to the two-team BCS structure.
“I’m the wrong guy to ask that," Swinney said, according to 247 Sports. "I’d be more back to two, to be honest with you. I’m not more is better guy. I know there’s a huge crowd out there for that, but I think college football is unique, and now all of a sudden it just becomes like everything else when you do that, in my opinion.
“I hate the fact that all of a sudden now it’s not cool to go to the Gator Bowl. Are you kidding me? I don’t like that mindset.”
Wait, when was it cool to ever go to the Gator Bowl?
“I love all the funky matchups,” Swinney said. “I love the Funky Cold Medina Poulan Weed Eater Bowl. I love all of that. I like the crazy games. There’s obviously a market for it because them TVs love to put it on there. I love the trips that I’ve experienced as a player and a coach.”
Okay, if there's a Funky Cold Medina bowl, you have our attention, but there isn't, so that's just another awful take, Dabo.
“I think the more you expand the more that becomes. I know that falls on a lot of deaf ears. It doesn’t mean I’m right. That’s just my opinion. I’m not telling anybody else they’re wrong. They can have the opinion whatever they want to have. But I love the passion of college football, and I think the more you expand the less the season matters.”
Here's the thing: bowls, while providing some benefits to schools and student athletes, have always been a racket.
And now we have this new trend of elite players sitting out inconsequential bowl games. Christian McCaffrey skipped Stanford's bowl game in 2016. Ohio State's own Denzel Ward skipped the Cotton Bowl last year. West Virginia's Will Grier is skipping his team's bowl this season.
You can't fault players for having this mindset. You go to college to prepare for your career and if a meaningless game jeopardizes substantial earnings for you, the decision to skip can be a no-brainer.
And we're only going to see more of this trend. Expanding the College Football Playoff might just be what saves college football in this regard.
Dabo talks about how the regular season will be devalued, and that's true, to a degree, but it certainly won't make the regular season meaningless as some like to claim. Is the NFL regular season meaningless? You certainly wouldn't think so based on the ratings.
Give us eight teams, five auto-bids for “Power 5” conference champions, a seat at the table for schools like UCF and the insanely awesome prospect of home games for higher seeds in the first round.
Can you imagine LSU visiting Ohio State in December? Yeah, that sounds awful, Dabo.
