Rece Davis believes outrage over playoff debates will be less with expanded field

The playoff conversation should be as interesting as ever this season now that it has tripled in size. However, Rece Davis thinks those discussions won’t be nearly as passionate based on that new set of circumstances.

Davis contrasted the previous playoff debates to the ones that he expects us to have now during a recent episode of the ‘College GameDay Podcast’. To him, they won’t be nearly as intense because we won’t be assessing two justifiable contenders at No. 4 and No. 5 from the previous model. Any decisions by the committee will be seen as more tolerable overall when it comes to choosing between the seeds that will be anywhere from 11 through 13.

“I actually think that the outrage and vitriol is going to be less because it’s not going to resonate. I’m not saying that it’s not going to be just as intense in those quarters. But, last year, you had Florida State – national championship pedigree, undefeated,” said Davis. “I’m saying that, once you get to 12 instead of four? And you’re talking about three-loss versus two-loss as opposed to undefeated? It’s not going to resonate outside of those precincts. It’ll resonate within those precincts. Outside of it, it’ll be like, ‘The SEC bias! They took Missouri! Why’d they take Missouri? Oh well, let’s play!'”

“The mean tweets are going to come from Lubbock, okay. They’re not going to be widespread,” Davis said. “There were people on the outside who were worried. I’m saying that that will be lessened.”

Let’s take 2023 for example as Davis did.

We all remember the infuriation that took place when Alabama made it into the playoff over Florida State. Both deserved spots, especially the Seminoles as an undefeated champion in a power conference, but the Tide made their final case with their win in the SEC Championship over Georgia.

However, what if both of those programs had made it in? Each of them would have in this new format of a dozen berths. That would shift the conversation to teams just outside the Top-10 which, per last year’s final rankings, would have come down to Ole Miss at No. 11, Oklahoma at No. 12, and LSU at No. 13, even though the final seed would be going to the best from the Group of Five.

Still, the point stands. The entire sport of college football had a thought on Alabama versus Florida State. Not nearly as many outside of their respective bases, though, would have an opinion on a handful of two to three-loss teams.

There is still going to be frustration, whether justifiable or not, when certain teams don’t get certain berths in the future of the College Football Playoff. Davis just doesn’t think it’ll be as heated considering the level of teams that we’ll now be discussing from here on.

“It’s not going to resonate and be as long-lasting as an undefeated, power conference champion in the future,” said Davis.