LSU finished with the No. 1 seed in this year's CFP, and will play Oklahoma in the Peach BowlGETTY IMAGES
The CFP's final rankings had LSU, Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma all make the final four, which should leave Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott "advocating for an expanded playoff," according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose MERCURY NEWS. An eight-team playoff could be "worth hundreds of millions of additional dollars for the conferences." But to this point, Scott has "taken the broadest, most magnanimous approach possible." The Power Five conferences and Notre Dame all agreed to the four-team event, even though they "knew at least one champion would be left out." Scott "must shove aside his instinct for doing what's best for the sport, for working with his colleagues and following the broader sentiment of the Power Five commissioners and the management committee." The Pac-12 "needs to lead the charge for an expanded playoff or, short of that, recalibrate the selection process" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 12/7). THE ATHLETIC's Stewart Mandel wrote Scott "remains deeply unpopular" with much of the Pac-12 fan base for a "variety of reasons." As a result, he may have to "start rethinking his stance on Playoff expansion." Two of Scott's counterparts, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and retiring Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany -- whose conferences "have had multiple champions excluded -- began expressing an openness to discussing a bigger field this time a year ago." Scott has "maintained the company line he's held since the outset, that four teams is fine as long as the committee places a value on conference championships" (THEATHLETIC.com, 12/6).
EASY PICKINGS: USA TODAY's Dan Wolken notes after "weeks of speculation about how messy things could get with so many teams in the mix down the stretch," the '19 season "turned out to be arguably the cleanest decision of the Playoff era" (USA TODAY, 12/9). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Laine Higgins writes there was "little surprise" in the four teams selected for the CFP. The "only question surrounding the undefeated trio" of LSU, Ohio State and Clemson was "what order they would take" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/9). ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson wrote, "Has anyone ever said, 'Thank you' to the College Football Playoff selection committee?" After years of "selection moments filled with anger, vitriol, complaints, hot takes and unrelenting criticism, this year feels refreshing in a way" (ESPN.com, 12/8). THE RINGER's Rodger Sherman wrote year after year, the selection committee "simply hasn't had to make a tough decision." The field has "cleanly sorted itself out to make things easy for the committee in almost every year the playoff has existed." That continued in '19, as the committee's decision was "practically made for them" (THERINGER.com, 12/8).
DOING JUST FINE: The AP's Ralph Russo writes playoff expansion "still seems inevitable, even though it has become apparent over the first six seasons of the playoff that it is just not needed to crown a deserving champion" (AP, 12/9). In Orlando, Matt Murschel writes under the header, "College Football Playoff Expansion Is Imminent, But A Four-Team Playoff Was Ideal This Year" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/9).
