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Health and safety a concern of CFB Playoff expansion for Ohio State AD Gene Smith
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College Football Playoff expansion has once again become a prime topic of debate. The conversation resurfaced this week among B1G athletic directors as the conference held its annual spring meeting.
Several B1G athletic directors, including Warde Manuel (Michigan), Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin) and Bill Beekman (Michigan State), all stated that they’d be in favor of discussing the possibility of expansion. The fact that the B1g has been omitted the last two years — and the B1G champion the last three seasons — has been the gasoline fueling the conversation.
But at least one B1G AD isn’t all that thrilled with the idea of turning a four-team playoff into an eight-team field. Ohio State’s Gene Smith believes one additional game would be a concern to the health and safety of the players.
“I see the value of studying it. I think it’s worth looking at,” Smith told Matt Charboneau of The Detroit News. “But I think there’s a lot of problems around it, I really do. I think you need to look at the wear and tear. When we won the championship in the inaugural year, I’m not so sure our guys could’ve gone another game. We played Michigan. We turned around and went to the (B1G) championship game. We turned around and played Alabama, and then you turn around and play Oregon. Most people don’t understand the toll that takes on a young person’s body.”
Considering Ohio State’s circumstances the last two seasons, it’s interesting that Smith is taking this stance. The Buckeyes have been left out each of the last two seasons, despite winning the B1G title in 2017 and 2018.
That should speak to how concerned Smith actually is about the safety of the players involved. If the one AD whose program has suffered the most from the lack of an expanded field thinks it’s not the best idea, maybe the four-team format is the best approach.
If there is an expanded field, Smith did offer some advice as to how it might work a little better.
“I’d be a little bit concerned about student-athlete welfare from a health and safety view, so I’m not sure how it would work,” Smith said. “I would hope there would be some gaps so that they could breathe.”
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