After two years of playing the 12 team College Football Playoff the College Football Commissioners are discussing going to a 24 team. The Big Ten, ACC, and the Big 12 are all on board, and the one hold out is the SEC. The SEC would prefer to stay at 12 or go to 16 teams. The undercurrent of expansion is the two major television partners.
The SEC television partner ESPN is content with 12 teams because they control the College Football Playoff games. Fox on the other hand is the primary provider of the Big Ten and they currently have no College Football Playoff games and if it expanded to 24 teams they would most certainly be able to bid on a broadcast College Football Playoff game. This battle between ESPN and Fox has played a role in the expansion talk.
Can College Football fans get use to 12 teams before we expand to 24 teams? The BCS system was used for 16 seasons, from 1998 to 2013. The 4 team College Football Playoff was used for 10 seasons. So, the previous two systems to decide a National Championship were used for a total of 26 seasons, but now everyone is so quick to rush to 24 teams after two seasons. It makes zero sense.
We don’t even know the long-term effects of the 12-team playoff because it is so new. Can we just let it ride for 6-8 years? Let’s see if fans, alumni and others enjoy it. Prior to the expansion to 12 teams Ohio State the 2025 National Champion and Miami the runner up for the 2026 National Champion would not have even competed for a National Title. Going from 4 to 12 teams is logical, going to 24 so soon is idiotic and short sighted.
The other big concern is watering down of the regular season. Now if you are in the 10-2 team you are most likely going to make the 12 team College Football Playoffs. If you are 9-3 team, you are also could possibly make the College Football Playoffs. If you expand to 24 teams now you will have teams that are 8-4 and maybe 7-5, making the College Football Playoffs. The regular season gripping loses now won’t matter as much as it did in previous seasons.
Another concern is the Conference Championship games. If the College Football Playoffs expand to 24 teams, they will be eliminating the Conference Championship games. The SEC Championship game last year had 16 million viewers. The Big Ten Championship game had 18 million viewers, which was the most ever to watch a Conference Championship game. These are huge games that the public loves to watch. Now you are going to replace them with lower tier games between 8-4 and 7-5 teams? Does that really make sense? No, it doesn’t.         Â
College Football has the best regular season in sports. The games matter every week. Going to 24 teams would drastically change that. Keep it to 12 teams and wait to expand even further. It’s a smart move.
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