For Baylor Athletic Director Ian McCaw, an eight-team College Football Playoff (CFP) is not just a hope, but also an eventuality.

Of course, Baylor was the primary example of the CFP's major flaw for those critical of the new National Championship format. Both Baylor and their Big 12 co-champion TCU fell out of the final four in favor of Ohio State despite doing arguably nothing to warrant the drop.

But the CFP is designed to keep at least one Power 5 conference out, and the Big 12, the one without a championship game in football, just happened to be the first such example.

"I think we'll get there," McCaw told ESPN. "Once we get there, we'll say, 'Why didn't we do this from day one?' I would think within five years would be my hope.

"If you're [No.] 9 or 10, it's hard to argue you should be national champion," he said. "But right now, if you're No. 5, and you're a conference champion, and you get left out, you can make a pretty good argument that you could have done what Ohio State did last year and win a national championship."

The CFP's executive committee has previously stated they do not intend to alter the four-team format during the life of their contract that ends in 2025. That could also mean they believe it is far too early to start thinking of expanding the field. Despite the gripes of Baylor and TCU, the first CFP was wildly successful.

According to Sports Illustrated, ACC commissioner John Swofford expressed support of expanding the CFP at the conference's Media Days event last month. But he also stated he likes the current format and does not believe it will change during the life of the CFP's contract.

"In a perfect world, if you only want to talk about football, and only about a playoff, yeah," he said at the ACC Media Days, "eight would probably be better."