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Ryan Day says College Football Playoff bye system is ‘out of whack’
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Ryan Day had the best experience of anyone in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. His Ohio State squad got a chance to recover from a devastating loss to Michigan, find momentum, and capture a national championship. But he also believes plenty can be improved upon.
On Wednesday, the Buckeye head coach appeared on The Triple Option podcast with FOX’s Mark Ingram and Urban Meyer to discuss various topics. Midway through the conversation, Meyer asked Day what he’d like to see changed in the CFP going forward.
Day said the player experience can be “much better.” He suggested moving hotels for the pre-championship games outside of big cities and to more secluded spots because, as Day described, the Playoff games run by bowl games didn’t feature pre-game events like a bowl game otherwise would.
And then he turned his attention to the seeding process.
“I think it was clear this year that the automatic byes were a little out of whack,” Day said. “When you see how it all shook out, I think they need to rethink that. I understand why, in the first year, it was done that way. But I think that if you win your conference, sure, you should get in but do you get a bye? I think that’s a little much.”
Day agreed with the suggestion that the first-round byes should go to the top 4 teams in the selection committee’s rankings, regardless of conference title games.
Had that been the case last season, Oregon, Georgia, Texas, and Penn State would have gotten first-round byes. From there, the first-round games would have featured Notre Dame against Clemson, Ohio State against Arizona State, Tennessee against SMU, and Indiana against Boise State.
Instead, both Arizona State and Boise State got byes into the quarterfinal round, which pushed Ohio State and Tennessee into the 8-9 matchup and set the Buckeyes on a path to play the Big Ten champ in the next round.
Change could very well be coming to the format. All 4 teams that received a first-round bye lost. And ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported on Tuesday that the CFP’s management committee will begin a “thorough review of the 12-team field” when it meets in Dallas next week.
Despite its warts, Day believes the 12-team Playoff is a good thing.
“This format allows your team to grow,” Day said. “Every game (before), it was like, you lose this game, your whole season is ruined. It’s a hard way to live. … You still allow your team to grow as the season goes on, looking to peak towards the end of the season. I think overall, it’s a healthier approach even though there’s a lot more games.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.