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Dabo Swinney, Clemson players not in favor of 12-team College Football Playoff

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Pump the brakes on the College Football Playoff’s expansion model. Not everyone is on board with this idea just yet, particularly one of the most dominant programs of the four-team era.

Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says he and his team are against an expanded model for the College Football Playoff. He cited the length of the season as well as lacking competition as reasons behind his stance.

“Our team wasn’t for it. They don’t want to play more games,” Swinney said, per Grace Raynor of The Athletic. “And to be honest with you, I don’t think there’s 12 teams good enough.”

Clemson has been in the College Football Playoff field six times over the seven-year existence and has won two national titles. The Tigers have had no trouble under the current format.

But because of declining ratings, the College Football Playoff started looking at alternatives to enhance the experience. Expanding to include more teams seems to be a strong solution moving forward.

Swinney isn’t the only head coach to mention that his players aren’t really fans of an expanded field. North Carolina’s Mack Brown also recently told reporters that some individuals on his team were not favor of a 12-team format.

A lot of momentum is heading in the direction of expansion, which seems like a good thing. Just like any other decision, though, you’re not going to make everyone happy.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB