During a 75-minute media availability with reporters on Thursday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork expressed his support for the College Football Playoff expanding to a 14 or 16-team format.
“For the good of the game, I think for our conference, expansion should happen,” Bjork said, “14 or 16, I could kind of go either way. I think in this world, players want to play in high-level games, and then we need more content because that will drive more revenue.”
With many decision-makers like Bjork seemingly in favor of the College Football Playoff growing, expansion seems inevitable. What has come into question is the exact format of the new postseason. When reports of potential expansion first circulated, some expected the Playoffs would use a 4-4-2-2-1+1 format, which would give four automatic bids to both the Big Ten and the SEC. More recently, though, a 5+11 format that would give automatic bids only to the five highest-ranked conference champions has gained traction. During his availability, Bjork favored a format that would allow teams to automatically qualify for the postseason through play-in games.
“Can we create play-in games that equate to automatic qualifiers? I think that’s a really good model,” Bjork said. “The other thing, too, is there’s a lot of debate around the committee, and what kind of metrics they have. If you have automatic qualifying spots with play-in games, then you have more content and eliminate a lot of the committee dynamics that may get in the way.”
A potential pivot to a play-in model to the College Football Playoff could alter the Big Ten Championship format, which, according to Bjork, is something the Big Ten will have to think about.
“I think it depends,” Bjork said when asked if he was in favor of keeping the Big Ten Championship game. “It provides a tremendous amount of value, but if you’re doing automatic qualifying spots with play-in games, could there be a different model? I think that’s a conversation that has to continue.”
Regardless of the alterations to the Playoffs, Bjork is confident the Buckeyes will often be in a good position to participate in them.
“From our standpoint, we’re always going to be in position, we’re consistent in our performance, what we’re doing in recruiting and with Coach Day and the leadership.”
