Author: Grady Leatherwood

Bigger is not always better. Why further College Football Playoff expansion would be detrimental

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Photo by Grady Leatherwood
The 2021 Georgia Bulldogs celebrate their national championship after winning the CFP

Following the implementation of the College Football Playoff (CFP) in 2014 to determine the national champion, the system has faced frequent scrutiny from players, coaches, fans, athletic directors and the media. Originating as a four-team playoff, the flaws in the system were fatally exposed during the 2023 season, in which the undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion Florida State Seminoles were left out for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) champion Alabama Crimson Tide, who had one loss. Immediately following the season, the CFP was expanded to include 12 teams and the top five highest-ranked conference champions.

However, the system once again came under fire during the 2025 edition, when the selection committee left out the one-loss Notre Dame Fighting Irish while three-loss Alabama made the field.

“It should be 16 teams in my opinion,” Pete Bevacqua, the athletic director at Notre Dame, said. “It creates more opportunity, more narratives around schools and yet it preserves the integrity and importance of the regular season.”

Bevacqua is not the only one calling for expansion of the current format. The Big Ten Conference and Fox Sports have come out as staunch supporters of a 24-team playoff. “We feel strongly about it, and we’re working really hard with our colleagues and the other conferences,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said. Petitti’s push has been supported by all members of his conference, in addition to the ACC and Big 12 Conference.

However, Petitti’s push for a 24-team College Football Playoff would be detrimental to the college football regular season, as well as bowl games.

In a 24-team playoff, teams with several losses would be included in the field, rewarding, rather than punishing, teams for losing. Brad Crawford of CBS Sports published an article showing what a potential 24-team playoff would’ve looked like for the 2025 season. His scenario includes Iowa, who finished the regular season with an 8-4 record, equating to losing a third of games played. Rewarding Iowa with a playoff berth would significantly diminish the importance of games during the regular season.

Big games during the regular season would feel less important because their playoff implications would be nonexistent. The rivalry between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines is one of the most iconic and fierce in all of sports. Michigan entered their 2025 matchup with Ohio State needing to win to keep any playoff hopes alive. The increased playoff stakes of the game added extra fuel to the burning rivalry. In a world with a 24-team playoff, Michigan would’ve been safely in the field of the playoffs, and the game’s significance would’ve been greatly abated.

Photo by Grady Leatherwood
Kirby Smart, 2022

Additionally, a 24-team playoff would ruin bowl games. After missing the playoffs in 2025, Notre Dame opted to skip a bowl game in protest of missing the playoffs. As a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name for consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season,” the team announced. “We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we’re hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026.”

Expanding the field to 24 teams would make bowl games feel even more like a participation trophy rather than a reward for a successful season. “I think those bowl games are great experiences. I played in them, I’ve coached in them, I love them, that’s an opportunity,” said Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart. “But the more teams you give an opportunity to decide things on the field, like you do, whether it’s college basketball, high school football, old 1-AA football back when they had the playoff.”

While Smart advocates for the importance of bowl games, he supports playoff expansion in the name of inclusion. However, Smart compares playoff expansion to the NCAA tournament in college basketball, known for upsets. However, basketball has more parity between the top tier and lower end teams. Because basketball teams have smaller rosters and the game is more volatile, it is more likely for upsets to occur. In two seasons of the 12-team College Football Playoff so far, Group of Six conference teams have yet to be competitive in games.

As a die-hard fan of college football, more football is usually better. However, expanding the playoffs would diminish the quality of games and result in a poorer product.

Currently, the 2026 edition of the College Football Playoff will feature 12 teams for the third straight year.

Powered by sour candy, Georgia baseball keeps sights set forward

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By Grady Leatherwood
Calhoun High School

Every team begins the college baseball season with the same goal: to advance to the Men’s College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska, and win the national championship. On Sunday, the Georgia Bulldogs took the next step in advancing towards the national championship, clinching a spot in the CWS after sweeping Mississippi State in a high-scoring two game series. In front of 3,633 fans packed inside Foley Field on Sunday, the Diamond Dawgs mashed four home runs — none bigger than junior catcher Daniel Jackson’s go-ahead two run home run in the 10th inning — en route to an 11–9 extra innings victory.

“It’s everything we’ve been working for the last ten months,” Jackson said during an interview with ESPN discussing the win. “As soon as I saw that it would stay fair, I knew it’d be lights out from there.”

Jackson’s tie-breaking home run was his 31st of the year, the second most in Georgia baseball history, behind Charlie Condon’s 38 home run season in 2024. “He’s the best player in the country,” Bulldogs head coach Wes Johnson said. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever coached.”

With the win, Georgia advanced to the CWS for the first time since 2008 and for just the seventh time in program history. In their previous six trips to Omaha, the Bulldogs have only won the tournament once, in 1990, led by late coach Steve Webber. The latest trip to the CWS for Georgia ended with a second place finish, as they lost the championship series to Fresno State.

The 2026 campaign has already been one of the most storied in program history, with the Bulldogs winning their first conference tournament in the club’s 140 year history. Additionally, the Super Regional clinching win on Sunday was the Bulldogs’ 51st of the season, second only to the 1990 team that won 52 games and the CWS. The team also leads the nation in home runs with 174, a school record.

The Bulldogs success this season can be attributed to a variety of factors, including their high-powered offense led by Jackson, Tre Phelps and Brennan Hudson, and a solid pitching staff headlined by junior and top Major League Baseball draft prospect Joey Volchko. However, the players claim that Buc-ee’s candy is the secret to the team’s winning ways.

Quattro Sour Power Candy Belts from the Texas-based gas station chain Buc-ee’s have established themselves into the mythos of Bulldog baseball. Georgia players claim the rainbow-colored candy gives them powers on the diamond.

“This is sour power right here. Every time you score, you get some of it,” Jackson explained during a post game interview. “It’s actually one of the things that brings us together. A part of our offensive identity is sour power.”

“Sour power” has become a rallying cry of sorts for the team. The fans have also embraced the sweet tradition, with a large “sour power” sign adorning the lawn of Kudzu Hill during Sunday’s game.

With a trip to Omaha secured, the Bulldogs know they can’t afford to become complacent. “We”ll soak it in for about 12 to 24 hours and then get right back to the grind,” Jackson said in a post game press conference. “Take each day of practice and get better. That”ll set us up for a good time in Omaha.”

Senior shortstop and clubhouse leader Kolby Branch also weighed in on the team’s need for focus. “We just want to get there and go from there and start playing and competing like we’ve done all year. Just like the SEC tournament, the Regional, and the Super Regional,” Branch said. “You just got to get to the next step and go from there. But we’re confident and ready to go and ready to get after it.”

Georgia’s third-year head coach Wes Johnson emphasized his lack of relaxation and his full concentration on the CWS. “We didn’t get to sit back and soak it in,” Johnson said when the media asked how he celebrated the Bulldogs win. “It was business as usual. We’re getting ready for Texas. Sitting back and taking it in will hopefully happen July 4th weekend.”

The Bulldogs are listed as the best team in the field of the CWS according to USA Today, having won 19 of their last 20 contests. Georgia’s first game in Omaha will commence at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday against the Texas Longhorns and will be broadcast on ESPN.

Making connections: Joe Dennis and his passion for people

~ Grady Leatherwood ~ Leave a comment

By Grady Leatherwood
Calhoun High School

Hailing from the Southside of Chicago, Joe Dennis — a Filipino journalist-turned professor — has a passion for sharing and discovering stories. The Windy City native has worked in the world of journalism for many years, meeting an innumerable amount of people — such as John Mayer and Isiah Thomas — and sharing his enthusiasm with them. Despite being able to meet major personalities and celebrities, Dennis claims he finds the most inspiration from ordinary people.

“What was really impactful for me, was when I was reporting on a judge who needed a liver transplant and was on the waitlist for organ donation,” said Dennis, as he recollected on a past assignment. “I really got to know the family. I would come in and have dinner with them. And every month, I would write an update on how his health was doing.”

Dennis didn’t just write stories, he connected with the people he worked with. After months of engaging with the family and providing monthly updates, the judge passed away while being 12th on the waiting list. “That really was powerful to me,” Dennis reflected. “That day, I went to the driver’s license facility and became an organ donor, because I saw the impact that organ donation can really have on people.”

Dennis takes pride in making connections and taking time to know his subjects. “When you’re working as a journalist, one of the most important things you can do is continue to be very friendly,” Dennis advised. “Take an active interest in other people, not just what you need for journalism. Take an interest in who they are and their families.”

Dennis’ commitment to connection proved to pay off, as he received additional opportunities. One day while out shopping, he received a phone call from a connection at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) for a chance to work a substantial story on a drug bust. “The GBI was doing an undercover drug bust that they really wanted the promotion about,” Dennis said. “I’m working at this community newspaper, and they called me as opposed to calling Fox 5 in Atlanta or NBC 11. That’s because I had developed that rapport with them from a previous story.”

Coincidentally, the call from the GBI was also the moment that Dennis realized a change in profession would be in order. “I knew I wanted to go a different path and go into teaching when we were shopping for baby strollers,” said Dennis when describing getting the call. “I’m having some family time now and this is my job and I need to do this. I really wanted to do something that was on more of a regular schedule. That’s what led me into teaching.”

Following his profession change to a college professor, Dennis found pride in teaching successful students. “It is so cool to see where some of my former alumni end up,” said Dennis. “One of my former students is now working with the NBA as a social media coordinator. I have another student who works as the announcer for the Texas Tailgaters.”

Throughout the duration of his career, Dennis has had an immense impact on those he interacts with. He serves as an inspiration to aspiring journalists through his dedication to connection.

Dennis currently serves as the Associate Professor of Mass Communications at Piedmont University in Demorest, Georgia.

Grady Leatherwood

~ Grady Leatherwood ~ Leave a comment

Hello, my name is Grady Leatherwood, and I am a rising senior at Calhoun High School in Calhoun, Georgia. I have an immense passion for sports and writing, and I aspire to become a sports journalist in the future. Despite the many programs and opportunities my school offers, they do not offer a school newspaper or journalism class. As a result, I took matters into my own hands by starting a social media account to document Calhoun’s football team. During the games, I post live score updates keeping the community informed. Additionally, I create social media graphics for the account. I have run the account for two years now and have gained a decent following. As for official school activities, I have participated in my school’s marching band for four years as a trumpet player. This upcoming school year, I am ending my tenure with the band to pursue other opportunities, such as a potential internship with Calhoun’s local newspaper or starting a school newspaper. I am also a member of numerous clubs at my school including Future Farmers of America (FFA), Beta Club and National Honor Society. For the past two summers, I have worked for my school’s summer feeding program, making and providing meals to children in need in the community.

I have always loved reading and writing, but I didn’t realize my passion for journalism until around the seventh grade. I’ve always wanted to have a job working in sports and when I realized that I could make a career out of watching and writing about sports, I have made that my goal ever since. I love the prospect of telling the stories that makeup the framework of sports. Every team, athlete, coach and fanbase have a unique story to tell, and I want to uncover their narratives and share it. I want to be able to capture of all the emotions that sports elicit and encapsulate them into writing. While I have no “real” experience with journalism, I sometimes write in my free time for fun about the sports games I watch. My academic goal is to attend the University of Georgia and ultimately the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

My favorite thing to do is watch sports, especially with my father. Sports are such a key element of my life, as they have provided some of my best and worst memories and have strengthened the bond between my dad and me. My favorite teams are the Georgia Bulldogs, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks and Baltimore Ravens. Some of my earliest recollections are watching the Bulldogs play football on Saturdays and attending Braves games at Turner Field with my dad. My favorite sport to watch fluctuates and depends on the season. I enjoy traveling, especially to different sports venues. I have visited 13 states and Washington, D.C.. Every place I go, I like to take pictures to document my journeys. Additionally, I enjoy watching all different kinds of movies and television series, especially ones inspired by comic books. My favorite movie is “The Wolf of Wall Street” and my favorite television series is “Ted Lasso”. I like to go to the theater and watch new movies with friends and then write reviews on Letterboxd after. I spend the rest of my free time listening to music, reading, and hanging out with family.