Urban Meyer on 8-team playoff: You can't do that
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is against an eight-team playoff.
He was asked about possible College Football Playoff expansion on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday and didn't waver in his opposition.
"You can’t do that," Meyer said. "Now that I’ve done it and, once again, there better be coaches on these committees. I think we learned a lesson, you know with all the family travel and there better be student-athlete representation on any conversation and I’m going to be very outspoken about that if there’s any more conversation about adding games there better be coaches on that and there better be student athletes."
Meyer continued:
"You can’t. You better give us 110 scholarships then, because you’re down. I can’t speak for Oregon, I can speak for Ohio State. That when they added — When they had 85 scholarships there were 12 games. Now there’s 15. And the last three they added aren’t against smaller — they’re heavyweight prizefights. You just can’t do it."
The current FBS scholarship cap is at 85, though we're not sure why the number of games for the top teams in FBS would be an issue. The FCS level scholarship cap is at 63 and the teams in the title game are playing 16 games a season with its 16-team playoff.
And besides, most college football teams are still playing 12 or 13 games. The only teams that are currently playing 14 or more games are teams going to conference title games and bowl games.
Additional scholarships would also benefit the top teams, like Meyer's Ohio State, more than others. Top teams could sign more kids with the added benefit of preventing them from seeing the field for a rival.
Meyer does have a point with family travel and it was accommodated Tuesday when the College Football Playoff agreed to provide a family travel stipend for Oregon and Ohio State players. But it stands to reason that a similar program would continue for additional games if the Playoff expands. That won't be a sticking point, and scholarship limits shouldn't be either.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
