Senior College Football Reporter
Three years ago, when a small group of college executives chose college football’s 12-team expanded playoff format, they left plenty of other proposals on the cutting-room floor.
Those include an eight-team format awarding the five highest-ranked conference champions with automatic berths and the next three ranked teams at-large spots, with no first-round byes. There was the simple format of selecting the highest-ranked eight or highest-ranked 12 teams with zero automatic bids.
And, finally, officials deeply explored remaining at four teams with an added wrinkle: the selection process would happen after all teams competed in bowl games.