Significant change is on the horizon in college football.
Once the 2023 season concludes, the College Football Playoff is set to expand from four teams to 12, and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day expects the modified postseason model to make a significant impact right away.
In an interview with Joel Klatt of Fox Sports on "Big Noon Conversations," Day said an early-season loss will no longer be as consequential for a team’s CFP aspirations and thinks that fact will lead to a shift in approach from college football coaches around the country.
“I think it’s big. We’ve already had those conversations. It’s right around the corner for us. I think the first thing is how you approach the season is gonna completely change,” Day said. “For instance, last year, we played Notre Dame first game of the year. You start that preparation in June. You’re ramped up because that game is critically important. I think maybe if we don’t win that game, first game of the year, maybe we don’t get into the playoffs. So I think so many of those games, one or two games could ruin your entire season right now, the way we have it set up."
Day likened the forthcoming college football model to the NFL, where he spent two years as a quarterbacks coach before joining the Ohio State staff in 2017. Day said that in 2024 and beyond, college football teams will be rewarded more for their caliber of play late in the season and that programs won’t experience as much pressure to figure everything out entering Week 1.
“I think the way it’s moving forward with the playoffs, the idea is gonna be to play your best football at the end of the season. Very much like the NFL,” Day said. “I think about when the Rams won the Super Bowl. I think there was a (stretch) of three weeks in a row they had lost three in a row. It happens in college football. I mean, your season’s over. So that’s a different approach. I think that probably a lot of NFL teams would tell you they’re kind of feeling their way around in September, they find their identity in October and then they turn it on in November. Not that that’s the way it’s gonna be in college football, but I think it’s gonna be more that way.”
Day also seemed excited about potentially hosting a playoff game at Ohio Stadium late in the year. The new format will see the top four teams in the CFP rankings earn a first-round bye, while teams ranked No. 5 through No. 8 will host seeds 9-12 on campus in matchups that will determine the quarterfinal field.
“I think it’s gonna be interesting to see how that playoff system works. The first four teams get a bye, the second four teams host,” Day said. “Playing a home game in Columbus in December’s gonna be fun.”
Of course, further modifications remain possible as well. Come next season, only four playoff games will be hosted on college campuses, while the remainder of the CFP matchups will take place at neutral sites. But Day said he’s talked with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith about the chance for multiple rounds of the CFP to feature on-campus contests in the future.
“Gene and I have talked about that. There are challenges that come with both. I think there are arguments on both sides,” Day said. “But I think playing a home playoff game in December at the Shoe is pretty fun to think about. But there’s a lot of conversation to be had to get to the final decision on that.”
With the start of the 2023 season less than two months away, CFP expansion is no longer far off into the distance, and it’s sure to bring plenty of change to the sport’s landscape when it arrives.
