When, not if.
That seems to be the growing consensus from college administrators across the country when it comes to the College Football Playoff expanding from four teams in the somewhat near future.
The latest to join the bandwagon of the inevitable? Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity saying the quiet part out loud and breaking ranks a bit from his peers in the SEC on the topic.
“We both feel that [the playoff] is going to eight teams, eventually,” McGarity told CBSSports.com this week, referring to himself and head coach Kirby Smart.
The impetus for McGarity’s comments come in the form of the Bulldogs increasingly tough schedule over the coming years that he and Smart have been putting together. The school just announced a home-and-home Rose Bowl semifinal rematch with Oklahoma for 2023/2031 and have Dabo Swinney’s budding dynasty at Clemson on the docket several more times over the next two decades as well. Add in Oregon, Texas, UCLA and Florida State among others and it’s pretty clear that UGA is really trying to build up that strength of schedule for a time where it could be a huge factor in making an eight-team bracket.
Georgia isn’t alone either. Michigan State’s AD said the same thing recently and Wisconsin’s coach-turned-athletic director Barry Alvarez has been stumping for even more changes than just moving to eight.
McGarity’s comments, however, come in contrast to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey voicing his support for four teams and the CFP folks themselves saying expansion isn’t in the works at the moment.
Still, you’d be hard pressed to find anybody who doesn’t see eight teams on the horizon at some point. Again, it’s when that will happen... not if.