Mike Leach — the enigmatic BYU grad who is now the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs football program — has never been too shy about sharing his thoughts and opinions, and late Saturday night, he took to Twitter to make a comparison between the Kentucky Derby earlier in the day and the College Football Playoff.
Referencing the upset victory from long shot Rich Strike, Leach wrote, “That horse winning the Kentucky Derby today, is good example of why an expanded college football playoff is needed. That horse hadn’t won all the races leading up, but it got its chance and that’s what happened.”
That horse winning the Kentucky Derby today, is good example of why an expanded college football playoff is needed. That horse hadn’t won all the races leading up, but it got its chance and that’s what happened.
— Mike Leach (@Coach_Leach) May 8, 2022
Rich Strike had entered Saturday with a 1-0-3 record and having only been put in the Derby field on Friday after Ethereal Road scratched.
The victory from 80-1 odds was the second-biggest upset in Derby history and the biggest since all the way back in 1913.
While many in the college football world are in favor of expanding the CFP to eight or 12 teams from the current number of four, Leach last summer voiced a desire to go all the way up to 64, which would be more in line with the NCAA basketball tournaments (68).
“I think 12 teams is a huge step in the right direction,” he said. “I personally would like to see 64, and you could map it out pretty easily.”