As the College Football Playoff Nears, the 12-Team Format Can't Arrive Soon Enough

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In less than two weeks, the College Football Playoff will be crystalized. Regardless of what happens between now and then, the last four-team bracket will be filled, and the matchups will be made official.

Perhaps there will finally be drama. Perhaps this is the year the selection committee will be forced into an unpopular, controversial decision.

Maybe in its last act before it graduates to 12 teams, the College Football Playoff will at long last deliver what many have been craving.

Regardless, as one format sunsets and the other begins, a defined sentiment comes to mind.

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First, let's take inventory. The four-team College Football Playoff began in 2014. In nine years, it has crowned five different champions. Three teams—Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson—have won multiple championships since its inception.

A total of 14 teams have appeared in the postseason during that time. Only four teams—Florida State, Michigan State, Cincinnati, and Washington—have appeared just once, although that number could change in the not-too-distant future.

The rest of the playoff has been consumed by the expected and familiar faces. Of the 36 playoff spots reserved over the past nine years, 21 have been taken up by Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Clemson. Nearly 60 percent of all vacancies have gone to four programs.

Given the teams vying for the final playoff spot, it's safe to assume that this trend is likely to continue.

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While the playoff has been a billboard for a select few, the postseason has increased the popularity of the sport. Purists will argue this notion, longing for the days of BCS and geographical alignment.

This sentiment, while both understandable and reasonable, takes a backseat to college football's booming popularity. While this version of the sport is undeniably a mutated version of what it once was, the general interest has never been higher.

To that end, it has served its purpose. But the College Football Playoff needs change. It needs expansion. It needs fresh faces and a fresh format.

The latest flood of conference realignment has jostled what a 12-team playoff will look like, although the foundation is largely in place. With the Pac-12's collapse, the CFP Management Committee is moving closer to a 5+7 format, according to Yahoo! Sports.

This means the five highest-ranked conference champions would earn automatic bids; the remaining seven bids would go to the highest ranked at-large teams.

The top four seeds would earn first-round byes. Those playing in the first round would do so on the college campus of the higher ranked team, which would be a welcomed addition. The rest of the bracket would play out as bowl games like it does today.

Given the fluidity of college football, the details for a looming postseason are still being pieced together. While there are still pieces to be finalized, what we know is plenty.

The arguments against playoff expansion are somewhat consistent—most notably that games throughout the season will lose significance.

The argument against that is somewhat clear—with a great portion of the four-team playoff occupied by only a select few, what significance is being lost? And by whom?

Even now, with a final selection committee decision looming, the remaining games aren't exactly oozing with drama. Sure, there is greatness still to come.

Ohio State and Michigan will play in one of the most anticipated regular-season football games in recent memory. A rematch between Washington and Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game would be undeniably exceptional. And maybe the madness in other places will finally arrive.

Even with these meaningful games still looming, is the sport oozing with drama?

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We know the teams involved, per usual. And it doesn't stretch beyond that. The simple reality is that allowing more teams access will rapidly ramp up late-season interest and curiosity.

Sure, a team like Georgia would already secure a spot in a 12-team playoff by now. The hope, of course, is that this sentiment would create more meaningful early season games, much like we see in college basketball.

Enriching the postseason with more teams will create better out-of-conference scheduling. That theme will carry forward eventually into the actual postseason, where the true value lies.

Positioning marquee teams against one another at a greater frequency will make for more compelling content. At its core, that's what a larger bracket will do.

It will provide us with more football games between elite teams that don't normally play one another. At the same time, it will grant access to teams such as Tulane or Liberty—Group of Five teams in the midst of special seasons.

Worried about blowouts? Those have been rampant throughout the four-team playoff thus far. The magnificent football game we were gifted between Ohio State and Georgia during the semifinals last season wasn't the norm; it was the exception.

More games will provide more opportunities for brilliance. And while the end of the regular season will provide elite teams with the possibility of creating easier access, it will also increase interest up and down the Top 25—providing hope and opportunity for schools that wouldn't have a chance to gain access in the current format.

This increase in teams won't diminish the regular season; it will create a frenzy unlike any the sport has ever known.

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In the end, we will still crown a deserving champion. That champion will still have to navigate one of the more competitive and intense regular seasons in all of sports. The regular season will give way, just like it does now.

The end result will be the greatest platform college football has ever seen—a celebration of both the elite and unlikely all at once.

The regulars will make appearances, just like they do now. But they will also have a welcomed company of teams, players and coaches that will carry a deep appreciation for the opportunity ahead.

Sure, everyone is poised to make more money from an increase in games and a more robust playoff. This is unquestionably a part of this expedited movement. But whether this is the driving force or not doesn't change the present reality.

This format can only take us so far. We deserve better, from start to finish. This new postseason is poised to provide more of everything the past decade has lacked.

As the first iteration of the College Football Playoff reaches its conclusion, the hope is that it will be filled with everything this postseason has largely lacked.

Regardless, change is coming. And it can't come soon enough.