Louisville Coach Jeff Brohm Supports 24-Team College Football Playoff Expansion

The landscape of college football is about to shift, with talk swirling around expanding the College Football Playoff (CFP) to 24 teams. Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm is one of the folks backing this idea, saying it would give more teams from different conferences a real shot at the national title.

Not everyone’s thrilled, though. Players like linebacker Stanquan Clark and offensive lineman Lance Robinson are worried about what a longer season might mean for them.

Brohm, head coach of the Louisville Cardinals, is pushing hard for the 24-team playoff. He thinks a bigger bracket would let more teams show what they’ve got on the national stage.

He points to college basketball and the FCS level, where bigger playoff fields seem to work out just fine. “If you look at college basketball or look at the FCS level, 24 teams will provide the ability for teams from other conferences to get their best teams in and have a bracket where you come out with the best champion,” Brohm said.

He calls the idea exciting for fans everywhere and guesses it could happen pretty soon—maybe as early as 2027.

Benefits of a 24-Team Playoff

Brohm says expanding the playoff would:

• Increase competitive opportunities: More teams could chase the national title.
• Enhance fan engagement: A bigger bracket means more excitement for fans.
• Ensure the best champion: With more teams, it feels like a fairer shot at crowning the top team.

Player Concerns About Expansion

Still, the idea doesn’t sit well with everyone. Stanquan Clark and Lance Robinson are two players who’ve spoken up about their worries.

Clark likes the 12-team format as it is, and thinks 24 teams would be going too far. Robinson chimed in, “That’ll be, what, 17-, 18-game season?”

He pointed out how much that could wear players down, comparing it to the NFL grind that leads to injuries and exhaustion.

Potential Drawbacks of Expansion

Some of the big concerns are:

• Player fatigue: More games could mean more injuries and tired players.
• Impact on academics: A longer season might mess with schoolwork.
• Scheduling challenges: Adding more playoff games could make scheduling a real headache and put conference championship games at risk.

Impact on Nonconference Scheduling

Expanding the CFP could also shake up how teams schedule nonconference games. Notre Dame’s 2025 season is a good example of how tricky this can get.

Even with a strong 10-2 record, the Fighting Irish missed the playoffs after losing to Miami and playing only two non-Power Four teams. National champion Indiana caught some heat, too, because their nonconference schedule didn’t include any Power Four schools.

Indiana’s strength of schedule was ranked 10th nationally, but critics still questioned if their road to the title was as tough as others.

Scheduling Strategies Moving Forward

Brohm wants to see teams take on tougher nonconference opponents. He thinks it makes the sport better and gives fans more to get excited about.

Louisville, for example, added Ole Miss to its 2026 schedule and will play nine ACC games for the first time, including a home game against SMU. “To me, whether that’s 11 or 12 (games), I’m all for it,” Brohm said, stressing how much competitive scheduling matters for the sport’s future.

Conclusion

The debate over expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams? Yeah, it’s not going away anytime soon. Some coaches, like Jeff Brohm, see it as a shot to boost competition and maybe even bring in more fans.

But then you’ve got players like Stanquan Clark and Lance Robinson who aren’t so sure. They’re looking at the possible downsides, and honestly, who could blame them?

There’s also the whole mess of what happens to nonconference scheduling. And will conference championship games even matter in the same way? Those are questions that just keep popping up.

If you want to dive deeper into how this CFP expansion talk is playing out, the Courier Journal has the full story.