Joel Klatt explains why the College Football Playoff expansion will benefit recruiting

There are plenty of opinions out there about what the approved expansion of the College Football Playoff will do. Some even wonder if having a 12-team field will be good for the sport. However, there are just as many who see the benefit this expansion will have for college football. For Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt, he shared his thoughts on how it could be a pro in a way not many have yet considered.

Klatt spoke on expansion during an episode of ‘Breaking the Huddle’. He said one of the biggest areas we could see changes in by going from four to twelve would actually be out on the recruiting trail.

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“If you look at where all the top end talent has gone and where it’s consolidated to, it’s the exact schools that have won national championships. They’re still going to be great. There’s no doubt. But, right now, Alabama has had 40 five-star recruits in the last eight years. The sixth place team on the five-star recruit leaderboard, Texas A&M, has 19. That’s way too much separation,” said Klatt. “If we can separate out some of the talent and not get them consolidated just to a few programs, I think that we can eventually get to a place where college football will have more parity.”

It’s no secret that the top-end talents want to compete for national titles. With that in mind, that leaves their options limited when it comes to a four-team playoff. There were always surprises, but perennial invites have always dominated the field. Teams like Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, and Oklahoma make it quite often. It was then obvious to see why their recruiting pitches were much stronger.

With 12 teams, Joel Klatt sees a scenario where the best recruits have more options to attend school. They won’t have to feel shoehorned into a program just to ensure a chance at a title run. That’s why Klatt wants the powers that be to put this in effect sooner rather than later.

“This 12-team playoff, I think, will be good for college football. And hopefully soon,” said Klatt. “I think that it needs to be 2024, not 2026. That’s because we need to start unwinding this consolidation of talent as fast as we possibly can to achieve more parity and more interest in the sport overall.”

Everyone sees an expansion in pros and cons for their program. However, Joel Klatt makes a very intriguing argument on the recruiting side of things. If five-stars don’t automatically choose to go to say Tuscaloosa or Columbus, that will create more parity in recruiting. In turn, that creates more parity in the playoff field. Once the new model takes place, a new wave of recruiting can follow it for teams who want their chance at a title.