Dabo Swinney blasts idea of expanded College Football Playoff

It’s safe to say Clemson coach Dabo Swinney doesn’t want to see the College Football Playoff get any bigger.

Swinney said Friday that he hates the idea of an expanded playoff, saying he’d rather go back down to two than expand to eight.

“I’d be more back to two, to be honest with you. I’m not a ‘More is better’ guy,” Swinney said, via Matt Connolly of The State. “I know there’s a huge crowd out there for that, but I think college football is unique, and now all of a sudden it just becomes like everything else when you do that.”

One of the big reasons Swinney is opposed is that he feels the playoff has cheapened other bowl games to the point that players are comfortable skipping them to avoid hindering their NFL Draft prospects.

“I hate the fact that all of a sudden now it’s not cool to go to the Gator Bowl. Are you kidding me? I don’t like that mindset,” Swinney said. “I think the more you expand the more that becomes (the norm). I know that falls on a lot of deaf ears. It doesn’t mean I’m right. That’s just my opinion. I’m not telling anybody else they’re wrong. They can have the opinion whatever they want to have. But I love the passion of college football, and I think the more you expand the less the season matters.”

Despite the recent chatter, there are plenty in the sport who don’t want to see the playoff expand for various reasons. If the NCAA wants to go to eight teams, there are a lot of hurdles they have to clear and factors they have to consider.