24-Team College Football Playoff: Why Expansion Isn’t the Answer

The landscape of college football is about to get wild. There’s serious talk about expanding the College Football Playoff (CFP) to 24 teams, and it’s got a lot of people—fans, media, even some insiders—raising their eyebrows. Still, some big names are pushing hard for this change, no matter how controversial it sounds. Let’s poke around at what could actually happen if this thing goes through. What about the regular season? Conference championships? Will fans even care?

The Push for a 24-Team College Football Playoff

Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti is leading the charge here. At first, plenty of folks weren’t buying it, but Pettiti’s managed to pull in some heavy hitters. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who used to be pretty skeptical, now says he’s on board. Big 12’s Brett Yormark? He’s been in from the start. But then there’s SEC’s Greg Sankey, who’s still not convinced—he calls a 24-team playoff an “unknown.” Fair enough, right?

Financial Motivations

Honestly, it’s all about the money. With players finally getting paid and coaches’ salaries ballooning out of control, athletic directors need new ways to make cash. Expanding from four to 12 teams already brought in more than $700 million a year for college sports. But apparently, that’s not enough. Boosters want more, and the programs keep asking for bigger budgets.

Impact on the Regular Season

If the playoff goes to 24 teams, the regular season just won’t feel the same. Right now, every week matters—lose once or twice and your playoff dreams are basically toast. But if almost two dozen teams get in, the pressure drops. Suddenly, teams can afford to stumble and still make the cut.

Rivalry Week Diminished

Think about Rivalry Week. It’s supposed to be electric. In the current setup, Michigan needed a miracle against Ohio State to even sniff the playoffs. With 24 teams, they’d be in no matter what. Alabama and Oklahoma? Same story—they’d coast in, even if they lost those big games. Not quite the same thrill, is it?

Elimination of Conference Championship Games

The 24-team proposal would also scrap conference championship games. That’s a big deal. Those matchups are usually the last gasp of drama before the playoff, and now they’d pretty much vanish. The end of the season would just feel… flat.

Flex Week Proposal

There’s talk about a “flex week” instead. Remember the 2020 Big Ten or the 2026 Pac-12 plans? Teams would play their final conference games based on where they stand. It could keep things interesting, at least in theory. Every team would have something to play for, not just the top dogs.

Implications for Fans and Bowls

What about the fans? And the bowls? Expanding to 24 teams might mess with both. Bowls have already lost some shine since the CFP started, but they still draw big crowds and make for good TV. If you pull the 13th- through 24th-ranked teams into the playoff, the leftover bowl games might get even less interesting. Not everyone tunes in for a watered-down matchup.

Fan Engagement

When the regular season matters less, do fans even show up? Teams like Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama—they’re always near the top, so their games could lose that do-or-die feeling. People might get bored. Attendance could drop. Look at how North Dakota State jumped to the FBS after fans lost interest. Could that happen elsewhere? Maybe. Hard to say, but it’s a risk.

Conclusion

The idea of expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams brings a lot of questions. Sure, the money is tempting, but is it worth what we’d lose?

Stretching the playoff could chip away at the importance of the regular season. Conference championships might start to feel like afterthoughts, and I wonder if fans would really enjoy a watered-down postseason.

Instead of jumping to 24 teams, maybe it’s wiser to look at other options. The flex week idea, for example, could keep things exciting without messing with the heart of college football.

If you want to dig deeper into what a 24-team playoff could mean, there’s a full breakdown on ESPN’s website here.