Recently, reports have been coming out that the NCAA is nearing a deal to expand the College Football Playoff to 24 teams. While a deal like this would make it easier for Rutgers to get into the playoffs years down the line, and it would likely generate more money for college football due to having a larger field, it will have a drastic effect on college football as we know it.
The new playoff format would see an additional round added to the current playoffs. The first two rounds will be played on college
campuses, with the later rounds being played on neutral sites, as they have in years past. The first round would see the 16 lowest seeds square off against one another, from No.9 to No. 24. The second round would see the remaining 16 teams play each other.
The first change that this expansion will likely be the catalyst for is a change with the bowl game system. If this decision goes through, many bowl games could cease operation in the upcoming years because of the severely constricted amount of talent teams to pick from and the over increase loss of prestige.
In addition to the bowl games, a playoff expansion will likely damage the stakes of the power four conference championship games, as they will likely no longer decide who gets in the playoff, rather just the seeing of said playoff. While seeding and avoiding the first round could be important, the fact that they likely won’t impact who gets in to the playoffs harms the stakes of those games.
However, and perhaps most important of all, expanding the playoff would likely hurt the quality of playoff competition. Last season, in the 12 team format, two out of the four first round games were decided by blowout. The first round the year prior was more of the same. A 24 team playoff format will only exacerbate these issues. One example of this is how it won’t be unreasonable to see the No.1 team in the country matched up against the No.16/17 team in the country in the second round. To put that talent difference into perspective No.17 Iowa lost to No.4 Ohio State 31-14 earlier in the year.
On a personal note, I favor an eight team playoff format with no automatic bids.
