Kalen DeBoer ‘wide open’ to potential College Football Playoff formats

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is all ears when it comes to different College Football Playoff formats moving forward. Having been a part of two different CFP incarnations, DeBoer is eager to see what’s next, whenever the committee finalizes a decision.

The 12-team playoff changed to a straight seeding model for this upcoming season, compared to the four guaranteed byes for conference champs this past season. There’s still talk about a 14, or likely 16, team playoff coming next and DeBoer is open to it.

Basically, if you bring a playoff idea to DeBoer, he won’t shoot it down. The Crimson Tide coach wants to hear you out first. 

“I don’t right now, and I’m wide open to that,” DeBoer said. “I know I’ve been part now – we weren’t in the 12-team playoff but obviously saw what that looked like, and I’ve been part of a 16-team playoff at smaller colleges, and that was just four weeks of games. I don’t think you’re probably looking much beyond that, as far as the number of teams entering the playoff, but that’s my experience. 

“So I think there’s also just the details that go into how those teams are picked, how they’re seeded. I think that’s a lot of it, as well. So I’m certainly open-minded to either of those and everything that comes along with it.”

DeBoer was also asked about potential play-in games, going the college basketball route. The SEC and Big Ten have considered play-in games during conference championship weekend to determine the third and fourth auto bids for their respective conferences, should that part of a new format be passed.

“I think any time you have a chance to be in a play-in game that’s still part of the playoffs – and I’m thinking just generally speaking and not specifically about Alabama – I think that adds to the excitement,” DeBoer said. “It keeps more people interested in where their team sits. But again, I don’t know enough about how that would look and how that would relate to a conference championship or anything like that, those weeks, how that would all add up to what we have already to find a national champion. 

“I think there will be a lot in the next couple days that I’ll probably learn, just like all of us, and hopefully, keep the ball moving enough to where we can figure out what’s best. I don’t know if there is a perfect solution. You just have to figure out what’s best for everyone involved.”