Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesUrban Meyer says there are not enough scholarships for an 8-team playoff.Everybody loves the college football playoff, but many fans don't think it went far enough and feel the perfect tournament would include eight teams instead of four.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer says it can't happen and he makes a strong case.
ESPN set television ratings records with the two semifinal college football playoff games on New Year's Day showing that their $7.3 billion investment is already paying off. With so much demand, it would seem like it would just be matter of time before the playoff is expanded from three games to seven.
But Meyer emphatically disagrees.
Meyer was a guest on "The Dan Patrick Show" and was asked about expanding the playoff to eight teams.
"You can't do that," Meyer told Dan Patrick. "You better give us 110 scholarships then ... when [it moved to] 85 scholarships there were 12 games. Now there's 15 and the last three they added aren't against smaller [schools]. They're heavyweight prizefights. You just can't do it."
In other words, Meyer's biggest concern is the health of the players and asking them to do too much over the course of a lengthened season. If the schools had more scholarships and bigger rosters, those same players could then get more rest during the season. But that is not happening with just 85 scholarships.
Meyer also made it clear that he wants coaches and players to be represented if there are any discussions about expanding the playoff and that he would be outspoken to make sure that happens.
At this point, the Power 5 conferences are leaving too much money on the table to not move to an 8-team playoff. But Meyer makes it clear that making the switch is not that easy and at some point everybody needs to stop and think about the players and not just the bottom line.