Ryan Day reveals how expanded College Football Playoff impacts Ohio State

Ryan Day revealed how the impending expanded College Football Playoff impacted Ohio State and it’s going to be a positive one, most likely.

An expanded playoff means more opportunity for teams. Day harped on the point of one loss could practically ruin a season in college football. There has yet to be a two-loss team to ever make the final four.

But with 12 teams in the playoff, beginning in the 2024 season, there’s a little more room for error.

“I think it’s big,” Day told Joel Klatt. “And we’ve already had those conversations and it’s right around the corner for us. So the first thing is how you approach the season is going to completely change. For instance, last year, we played Notre Dame in the first game of the year. I mean, you start that preparation in June, and you’re ramped up because that game was critically important. I think maybe if we don’t win that game, first game of the year, maybe we don’t get in the playoffs. 

“So I think so many of those games, you know, one or two games could ruin your entire season, right now, the way we have it set up. I think the way it’s moving forward with the playoffs. The idea is going to be playing your best football at the end of the season, very much like the NFL. I think about when the Rams won the Super Bowl, I think there was a week, maybe three weeks in a row they had lost three or three in a row. If that happens in college football, I mean, your season’s over.”

Expanded College Football Playoff good for Ohio State

The expanded College Football Playoff has its perks for teams that don’t get a first round bye. The first round of the playoffs will feature home games for the higher seed.

Either way, team’s playing their best football at the end of the season could make for an excellent playoff filled with classic games and upsets along the way.

“I think that probably a lot of NFL teams would tell you they’re kind of feeling their way around in September,” Day said. “They find their identity in October and they turn it on in November. Not that that’s the way it’s going to be in college football but I think it’s going to be more that way. It’s gonna be interesting to see how that playoff system works. 

“I mean, the first four teams get a bye, the second four teams host and you know, playing a home game and Columbus in December is going to be fun.”