One of the hottest topics of discussion this offseason has been around expanding the College Football Playoffs. For the last two years, we've watched some great games in the 12-team format. Personally, I believe the 12-team format to be the best for a playoffs. There's no 'perfect solution' but with some adjustments, the current format could be the best thing for the sport.
Unfortunately, the revenue the CFP generates will always be the main driver of the conversation, not the product on the field. That's why the expansion conversation has really started to pick up steam. Last season, Big 10 commissioner Tony Petitti led the charge pushing for a 24-team playoff and doubling the size of the field. This offseason, the Big 12, the ACC and commissioner Jim Phillips and now Notre Dame and Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua are onboard with the 24-team playoff format.
I was disappointed to learn that the Irish are now in support of this idea. Last week, Bevacqua made his first public comments on the subject and he explained why he is in support of doubling the current playoff field.
"I think in this day and age with what universities are investing in football, it’s a very expensive sport," Bevacqua explained. "You need to give more teams hope. The way things are structured now, everything points to the CFP. It’s a measure of success. It’s important in the tenure of a coach. We’ve seen firings when teams aren’t going to make it to the CFP.
"My concern is that if more teams aren’t given hope, that universities over the course of the next five, 10 years will say, ‘Hey, is the investment worth it?" Bevacqua continued. "I would hate to see a college football landscape where there’s only a handful of teams that can really give it a legitimate go year after year after year."
The amount of money spent on rosters year over year is increasing, and what universities are investing in their college football programs is a on the rise. I think there's a lot of truth to that argument. But saying that 'you need to give more teams hope' is where you start to miss me. Expanding the model to a 24-team format and handing out playoff spots like a three-button coat at the Salvation Army isn't giving teams hope, it's distributing charity.
We're starting to lose sight of the main goal in college football, and that's winning a national title. Why did USC drop Notre Dame from their schedule? Why did teams like Indiana, Penn State and Texas Tech implement an exceptionally soft out-of-conference schedule? I can tell you this, it wasn't to become more prepared for the post season; it was to boost their win/loss record to give themselves a better opportunity at 'earning' a spot in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, you have teams like Ohio State playing Texas in their out-of-conference schedule. In the last three seasons, Clemson has schedule Georgia in 2024 and LSU in back to back seasons in 2025 and 2026 on top of playing South Carolina every season during rivalry week in their out-of-conference. Notre Dame is scheduling home and home series with BYU, Alabama, Texas, Florida and Auburn.
I also don't agree overall with the notion that 'we've seen firings when teams aren't going to make it to the CFP.' Penn State elected to fire James Franklin eight months after playing in the CFP Semi-Finals. It was a knee-jerk reaction that will set back the Nittany Lions for a couple of seasons on the field and on definitely on the recruiting trail.
BYU, one of the top teams in the Big 12 has yet to make the CFP in the playoff era and they haven't come close to firing head coach Kalani Sitake. Arizona State won the Big 12 and made the CFP in 2024 and didn't come close to making it in 2025, and there's been zero discussion around Kenny Dillingham's future with the Sun Devils. Tennessee made the playoffs in 2024 and had one of the better teams in the SEC that season; last year, they finished unranked but Josh Heupel wasn't let go this offseason.
Coaches like Billy Napier at Florida weren't let go solely because they didn't make the CFP. Florida hasn't made the CFP since it's origin in 2014; Napier took over in Gainesville in 2022. He was let go because he had one winning season with the Gators in 3.5 years and was 3-4 through seven games before he was let go in 2025. He wasn't coaching to the standard at Florida.
Maybe I'm 'too traditional' in the sense that I believe teams who should make the playoff field should actually be teams who can contend for a title. Let's be real about something, if the playoff field expanded to 24 teams in 2024 or 2025, do we think that No. 19 Virginia had a shot to win it all last season? Do we think that No. 18 Iowa State, No. 20 Illinois, No. 19 Missouri or No. 22 Army had a shot to win it all in 2024? Short answer, no they didn't.
Handing out a participation award by granting teams a bid to the College Football Playoffs isn't 'giving teams hope.' It's cheapening the games we'll see in the first round of the playoffs and allowing programs who don't currently have a snowballs chance in heck to win a title to go back to their donors and alumni base and say 'Hey! We made the playoffs last season, give us more money.' At this point, unfortunately, expansion is inevitable, the question is how many teams and when will it go into effect. I just hope the resounding answer isn't 24 teams.
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