Yeah, but it's college football. There are ~1700 active NFL players at any given time. According to the NCAA, there are ~16,380 draft-eligible college players each year, of which 254 are drafted every year, including everything from the 1st round insta-millionaires to the late-round scrubs fighting to make a roster.
The reason there aren't more than 2-3 teams in the running is because the 4-team playoff has become a forcing function in recruiting whereby the best of the best HS players all fight to go to Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, or Oklahoma because they know that playing there is their best bet to pad their resume for the next level. It's like any other career you go to college for; the best schools in computer science, engineering, or whatever attract the best students. So do football and basketball. Go figure.
But the fun thing about college football, aside from the community aspect of it, is that the players largely aren't that good yet. Speaking from my alma mater's experience, you can be a Saquon Barkley, a Chris Godwin, a John Urschel, or an Allen Robinson and still make a nice career for yourself in the League. Why? Because we held Ohio State to within one point two years straight, and upset them not too long ago. We came back in 2016 to win a Big Ten championship after James Franklin and his staff finally figured out what they were doing. Sure, we were locked out of the 4-team playoffs that year, mainly because we got stomped by Michigan and lost a squeaker to
The point is, that's not an uncommon story. There's a few other schools right on the cusp. And every once in awhile, if you expand the playoff to 8 or 12, some of them will upset the usual suspects. That in turn has an effect on recruiting, and spreads the talent around a bit. There are plenty of smooth-tongued college coaches at programs just outside the playoff bubble who can sell a kid on the idea that "we're right on the cusp; you're the missing piece." Or maybe the kid just really liked the school, and the chance of even making the playoffs at #7 is what flips the switch for him and his family.
Point is, give them a couple upsets or a good year or two, and those coaches will peel off some more recruits from the Bama Death Star and Poor Little Ol' Clemson. And that will trickle down, because for every four- or five-star that decides to go to Penn State or Georgia or Florida, another playmaker ends up at a less-heralded school, too. And the playing field evens out instead of being the same damn thing every year.
