FAYETTEVILLE - Ryan Silverfield didn’t waste time getting to the point Monday: if Arkansas is going to matter in the new College Football Playoff era, the Razorbacks need to be in the conversation.
The CFP announced it will expand to 24 teams next year, pairing the bigger field with a new media deal with ESPN that runs through the 2031 season. Silverfield said the change gives programs like Arkansas a wider lane to chase a spot in the national championship picture.
“As a head coach here, for me, listen, the goal obviously is to be in the discussion next year,” Silverfield said. “That needs to be the goal for this football program to be in the discussion every time there is a playoff talk.
“Obviously my focus is on getting ready for [Saturday’s game against] South Carolina, but it's an extra, added opportunity for more teams to get into the fight.”
Arkansas has never reached the playoff field and has never seriously threatened to get there since the format began in 2014. Under the current 12-team setup, the Razorbacks still have been on the outside looking in. But in a 24-team bracket, the 2021 Arkansas team under former coach Sam Pittman would have landed in the field after finishing 21st in the final CFP poll.
The numbers show why the expansion matters to Arkansas and to programs across the FBS. There are 138 teams in the subdivision, and the new format would give 17% of them access to the playoff, up from 9% in the 12-team model. For comparison, men’s college basketball’s tournament will grow to 76 teams this season, which is 21% of eligible Division I programs, while college baseball’s postseason includes 64 teams, also 21% of Division I schools.
CFP executive director Rich Clark said the move was built around widening the door.
“At its core, the decision was driven by a desire to increase opportunities for FBS programs, student-athletes and fan bases to participate in the playoff and have a chance to play for the CFP national championship,” Clark said Monday during a conference call. “Simply put, more opportunity.
“New scheduling standards will incentivize institutions to schedule more compelling nonconference matchups during the regular season, and the 16 playoff games will now be played on campuses, bringing playoff football to more students and local fans.”
That on-campus setup is part of what makes the new bracket different. The first and second rounds will be played at campus sites, opening the door for more home playoff games and more local access.
Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek has already pointed out that the bigger field cuts both ways. Speaking Sept. 10 at the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club, Yurachek said expansion creates more chances, but also raises the bar for coaches and athletic departments.
“People say, ‘Well that’s great, that creates more opportunities,’” Yurachek said Sept. 10.
“Well, boy, that puts a lot of pressure, even more on coaches, athletics directors, etc., if you’re 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 now, as opposed to when it was four, OK, it wasn’t a big deal if you missed it. If it’s 12, it’s a little bit bigger deal, but you expand that thing to 24, it becomes a bigger deal, especially in the SEC and the Big Ten, if you miss the playoffs.”
The new format is expected to be dominated by Notre Dame and teams from the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. Every regular-season champion from those conferences will get in automatically, and the fifth-highest ranked conference champion will also be guaranteed a place.
Monday also brought another notable shift: the SEC said it will stop holding its annual championship game in Atlanta after this year. Other conference title games are also expected to disappear.
The playoff’s footprint will still run through some of college football’s biggest bowl names. The Rose, Orange, Cotton, Fiesta, Sugar and Peach bowls will remain part of the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
What happens to the rest of the bowl system is still unsettled. ESPN’s Nick Dawson, senior vice president for college sports programming and acquisitions, said the network sees a future for postseason games outside the playoff, but the details remain to be sorted out.
“We certainly feel there remains a need for postseason opportunities for teams,” Dawson said. ‘There are clearly still good TV windows to be had as well. That will kind of be the next step in our process.”
In Other News...
Arkansas Faces A Brutal Test It Still Hasn't Proved It Can Pass
Arkansas is heading into its Nov. 14 matchup with South Carolina carrying the kind of concerns that tend to linger after a rough stretch of games. The Razorbacks have shown they can move the ball in spurts, but finishing drives and holding up late have been recurring issues, and those flaws get magnified against a team that can make opponents pay for every mistake.
South Carolina brings a different sort of challenge with LaNorris Sellers, whose ability to stress defenses as an athletic quarterback has already forced plenty of adjustments around the league. Arkansas will need cleaner offensive execution and far better discipline on defense to handle the Gamecocks style, and the bigger question is whether the Razorbacks can sustain both long enough to turn this into a winnable home game. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Fans Are Still Stuck With The Same Offensive Problem
Arkansas fans have spent plenty of time this season wondering why the offense has looked so stuck in place, and the answer so far is that Tim Cramsey is still in the same role. With the Razorbacks sitting near the bottom nationally in scoring and total offense, the frustration is not just about production on the field but about the programs willingness to keep moving forward with the same setup that has produced so little.
Around college football, several programs have already decided that poor offensive performance is reason enough to make a change at coordinator. Arkansas has not followed that path, which only sharpens the scrutiny on the staff and raises the bigger question fans keep asking: if the results are this bad, what exactly is the plan to fix it? [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Still Has One Frustrating Problem In The Backfield
Arkansas ground game had its moments in the 26-23 loss to Auburn, but it also looked a lot like the kind of unit that can swing from productive to stagnant in a hurry. The Razorbacks finished with 172 rushing yards, though much of that came on two long runs, and Cam Settles led the way with 100 yards on 16 carries as the staff kept cycling through backs to find a rhythm.
Ryan Silverfield acknowledged the boom-or-bust nature of the run game afterward, and it is hard to ignore how much the offense still leans on explosive plays to cover for the stretches where it gets bottled up. The bigger issue now is whether Arkansas can clean up the details that keep those drives from becoming more consistent, especially the tackling for loss that can turn a promising series into another empty possession. [Read more 🡒]