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Joel Klatt hints that CFB Playoff expansion is coming

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Four teams or eight teams? That’s been the discussion ever since the inauguration of the College Football Playoff.

While four teams has seemed to be the right number, there has been plenty of controversy surrounding the four-team field. The only fix — some say — is to expand the bracket to include eight teams.

That change could potentially be coming sooner than you think, at least according to FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt.

Late Tuesday night, following the release of the latest College Football Playoff rankings, Klatt tweeted that there’s a “good chance” that the field expands to eight teams within the next five years. The analyst cited “power brokers” inside college football for his information.

“I think there is a good chance we have an 8 team playoff inside of 5 years based on conversations I have had with the power brokers inside CFB,” Klatt tweeted. “And I’m not a huge proponent of expansion, but it is coming.”

There’s been some sort of controversy nearly every single season. But, in any situation in which teams are selected by a committee, someone is bound to be left out. It’s hard to please everybody.

Considering the situation this season — with the potential of three Power Five conferences being left out — the talk of an eight-team playoff really isn’t that surprising. But how soon will those discussions turn to action?

We’ll find out within the next five years.

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