Like most college football fans, I am not in favor of a 24 team college football playoff. I was never really excited about anything past 8 teams, but that seal has already been broken. A 16 team playoff is a virtual certainty, and 24 appears to be inevitable at some point. Let’s look at some ways the power brokers in college football could lessen the damage and MAYBE make this work.
How the 24 team College Football Playoff could be a positive
Adjust The Calendar.
When the December early signing day started it worked fairly well, but that was in the era of a 4 team CFP. One reason Lane Kiffin could not coach Ole Miss and make his decision on LSU later was due to national signing day. Those situations will become more common. Move NSD back to early February and you may lessen the chances of moves being made during a playoff run. You could also ask ALL conferences to disallow hiring until January 1st…but I wouldn’t expect that.
The other adjustment would be to delay the portal opening until 72 hours after the National Title game. If the championship game is scheduled for the first Monday at least 7 days following New Year’s Day, you could keep the Final Four on New Year’s Day and still end the playoffs within the first two weeks of January…allowing the portal to open around that time and NSD on the first Wednesday in February. I’m BEGGING…keep New Years Day as a massive day on the calendar of every college football fan by giving us the Final Four.
Obviously, to do this the conference title games must go away. Otherwise, we’re looking at a calendar stretching into late January or (God forbid) February.
Home Stadiums Should Be A Priority.
The first two rounds should feature home games for the higher seeds. If 1-8 get a first round bye, then 9 through 16 host first round games on campus. The winners of those 8 games would then travel to face the top seeds on their home campuses, exposing fans to the many unique atmospheres in college football. It would make for more compelling television and might actually be enjoyable…making the best of a situation that most fans don’t want.
Jettison The AQ’s.
At 24 teams no one…and I mean NO ONE…should ask for any automatic bid situation. Not the G6, not Notre Dame, NOBODY.
What About The Regular Season?
This is the strongest argument against expansion, in my opinion. The beauty of college football for many of us has been the “do-or-die” feeling of every regular season game. We’ve already lessened that by going to 12 teams. Now we hope for no more than 2 losses. Obviously a 24 team field would mean 3 loss teams and even an occasional 4 loss team getting in the field.
But we have also learned over the last two years that the wider field has provided some great drama in November for teams near the bubble, and in many ways it has enhanced the late regular season as more teams fight to get there, or fight for a bye or possible home game. It doesn’t make sense that a team would rest players late in the season and sacrifice a chance for a first round bye and home game, or a chance to host a first round game.
Normalize Scheduling.
The SEC having now gone to a 9 game conference schedule, every P4 conference should use the same scheduling parameters…including a mandatory Power 4 Non Conference Opponent. Without naming names, some schools’ out of conference scheduling is simply a disgrace (hello Curt).
Ditch The Committee
Use a ranking that incorporates strength of schedule, something along the lines of ESPN’s Strength of Record metric. The best thing about numbers is that they are cold and brutal. You shouldn’t have human beings with natural biases making the decision now that we’re going to a field this large. It’s time. There’s no need for a committee to “agonize” over 24 and 25.
What Does It Look Like?
Not as bad as you think. Let’s explore a hypothetical 2026 season (it’s not happening yet). If we start the season on the final weekend in August and end the regular season Thanksgiving Weekend, that’s 14 weeks. You get two bye weeks built in to the 12 game schedule, and then start the playoffs on what is now Championship Saturday.
Using ESPN’s April 14th Way Too Early Top 25, the first round would occur on December 4-5 and would feature:
- #24 Houston at #9 Ole Miss
- #23 TCU at #10 Texas A&M
- #22 SMU at #11 LSU
- #21 Louisville at #12 BYU
- #20 USC at #13 Oklahoma
- #19 Iowa at #14 Michigan
- #18 Utah at #15 Penn State
- #17 Washington at #16 Alabama
Yes there will be some lopsided games in this group, but no worse than last year with TWO overmatched G6 teams getting in…but at least four, if not five, are pretty compelling matchups featuring big brands that bring eyes to TV sets. For purposes of this exercise, let’s just take the higher seeds to advance to round 2 on December 11-12.
- #9 Ole Miss at #8 Texas Tech
- #10 Texas A&M at #7 Miami
- #11 LSU at #6 Indiana
- #12 BYU at #5 Texas
- #13 Oklahoma at #4 Notre Dame
- #14 Michigan at ##3 Georgia
- #15 Penn State at #2 Oregon
- #16 Alabama at #1 Ohio State
I can honestly tell you there’s not a single game on that list that fans wouldn’t want to watch. In reality, this is the best argument for a 16 team, non-AQ playoff. But let’s continue.
Round 3 on December 18-19, again just assuming the higher seeds advance (which all of them won’t) and here we get to introduce bowl games into the system. Let’s say it’s Cotton, Peach, Orange, Fiesta…scheduled geographically based on the higher seeds’ choice.
Fiesta Bowl: #1 Ohio State vs. #8 Texas Tech
Cotton Bowl: #2 Oregon vs. #7 Miami
PeachBowl: #3 Georgia vs. #6 Indiana
Orange Bowl: #4 Notre Dame vs. #5 Texas
That’s great football. Then we catch our breath and enjoy the NFL over Christmas…teams that have been busting heads for three weeks get a chance to recover and prepare for 12 days to get ready for the Semis on New Year’s Day.
Rose Bowl: #1 Ohio State vs. #4 Notre Dame
Sugar Bowl: #2 Oregon vs. #3 Georgia
Then the National Title Game on Monday, January 11th. The transfer portal opens on January 14th. National Signing Day on February 3rd.
Again, this is not advocacy for the 24 team playoff…but I believe if some wise decisions are made it could work and provide an entertaining finish to the college football season. Not only that, but if it is done in a smart way could bring a financial windfall that might allow struggling programs to remain somewhat competitive or save some Olympic sports along the way. Yes, I realize that asking the powers that be in college football to do something “smart” may be a bridge too far. I agree with many that a 24 team CFP could be a disaster…but I don’t believe it has to be.
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