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Mike Leach: 64 teams is right number for College Football Playoff

After one year of the College Football Playoff, Washington State coach Mike Leach is ready to see it expand.

Not to eight. Not even 16.

“Sixty-four,” he said. “Why not?”

“I don’t know why you don’t have 64 teams,” he said. “... The notion of pinpointing and selecting four perfectly, well that’s not going to happen. That can’t happen effectively.”

In a playoff-specific interview with Leach on Wednesday, he said the sport should cut the regular season to 10 games and have the playoff start with a home-and-home series in the first round. His idea is that the existing bowls would cover the other games, and the champion would play 16 games.

“It’s remarkably easy,” he said. “If you’ve got 64, there wouldn’t be a lot of debate. ... It would be indisputable that it was settled on the field and somebody that wins playoff games accordingly deserves to be champion and there’s no debate. It would be great fun to watch -- just like it is at all the other levels.”

“The trouble with college football is you can get screwed in the process,” he said, “which is unfortunate.”