Monday made what was long rumored official: we’re moving to a 24-team College Football Playoff starting in the 2027-2028 season.
The reaction from most fans, commentators, analysts as well as many coaches and people within the sport, can be summed up in one word: why?
As recently as 2023, the playoff was four teams. The smaller field ensured that the best of the best would compete for a title. Only one-loss or undefeated teams had a chance at postseason glory … well, unless you were an undefeated Florida State team.
Then, in 2024, we moved to a 12-team format, which offered more opportunity for teams to change their season. The 2024-2025 Ohio State Buckeyes were a perfect example, losing the final game of the season before roaring back to life and steamrolling their way through to a championship.
The 12-team format has generally been well liked; it’s a solid balance of maintaining the exclusivity of the tournament, while adding more big postseason games on campuses and mostly preserving bowl season and the importance of the regular season. While the upcoming 2026-2027 version of the playoff will be just the third under the expanded format, we’re already moving on to even more teams. Somehow.
24 teams essentially means the end of meaningful bowl games. With a bowl field so diluted by the increase in playoff participants, the remaining bowls will be picking up scraps. Major conference championship games are set to become a thing of the past.
The regular season, long the best in sports, will be significantly less meaningful. Not only will three losses not be enough to keep teams out, there’s a strong chance that four or potentially even five loss teams (from the SEC) will be in the 24-team playoff. This might mean more scheduled games between big programs, since they’ll no longer be concerned about a single loss hurting their chances, but if it doesn’t, the sport will have sacrificed the regular season almost entirely.
Which again, raises the all-important question: who wanted this? Who was asking for it? Why is it even happening?
The answer is money, money and money. The Big Ten led the charge for more playoff spots, and other conferences and groups eventually fell in line. The SEC, long the hold out, caved, presumably because commissioner Greg Sankey realized he could start campaigning for all 16 conference teams to reach the playoff each season.
Obviously, more playoff games means more money coming from the broadcast partner, ESPN. More teams will have late-season home games with a potential “playoff appearance” on the line. Then be able to sell expensive home playoff game tickets to their fans. Coaches now have a lower bar to claim a successful season. And boosters can see a return on investment instead of seeing their money go towards reaching the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
The one group missing here? Fans. As usual. Fans weren’t asking for this, and surveys have shown that they overwhelmingly don’t want it. Unsurprisingly, it’s happening anyway. And in a news conference announcing the change, Executive Director Rich Clark explained why: the playoff committee doesn’t care.
BIG TEN CONFERENCE COMMISSIONER GIVES TONE DEAF STATEMENT ABOUT 24-TEAM COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Clark said on the call that changes brought about by the 24-team field will be beneficial for the sport, and most importantly, the business school executive’s new favorite word: “stakeholders.”
“New scheduling standards will incentivize institutions to schedule more compelling non-conference matchups during the regular season, and 16 Playoff games will now be played on campuses, bringing Playoff football to more students and local fans,” Clark said. “Finally, our commitment as the CFP administration and staff, we will make the 24-team Playoff spectacular for the fans, for the student-athletes, for the institutions, and for all our stakeholders.”
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Clark answered a few questions, saying that the committee will evaluate and encourage strong schedules, and teams will be required to play 10 games against teams from Power 4 conferences. That’s all well and good. But what came next was frustrating and a bit emblematic of how this whole process has played out.
One reporter asked Clark about fan opinion, saying “the online segment of the fan base seems to be maybe against this,” and wondered how Clark thought it would be “received by fans.” Here’s what he said:
“We’re aware of the fan sentiment and that many fans aren’t in favor of expansion,” Clark responded. “That was certainly weighed into the decision. It was considered. Ultimately we just need to make a spectacular Playoff. I mean, the CFP has a responsibility to our fans, they’re the lifeblood of college football. We owe it to them to make this great. That really is our intent. We appreciate our fans. We did take into account their sentiment. That was rolled into this decision. But we decided to move forward with it.”
Ah. Yes. We know fans don’t want it, we just didn’t care and did it anyway because it made more money. Perfection.
Obviously, that’s the real explanation for why they decided to “move forward” anyway. Fans are dead last when it comes to priorities among the leadership in college football. A “spectacular playoff” doesn’t require 24 teams, in fact, it’s more likely to dilute it.
In 2025-2026, for example, several games between P4 and G6 teams were widely decried as being non-competitive. Ole Miss blew out Tulane 41-10 and Oregon handled James Madison 51-34. Even in the 2024-2025 playoff, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit went on a rant decrying the Indiana Hoosiers reaching the 12-team field when they lost 27-17. In a 24-team format, how bad will that 24th team be?
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Probably not great!
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But this is what happens in modern college football; those in charge focus exclusively on short-term financial success over long-term health. Fans come last. Money comes first. At least this time they’re admitting it.
