ESPN is citing sources saying the CFP and ESPN are nearing a deal to expand the playoff field from its current status of 12 teams to 24 teams in 2027.
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People lost interest in Bowl games. Many fans said with so many games, some games became meaningless. Now were going to add 12 more teams? And for what?
Someone has figured out that if a big underdog wins a playoff game, it would generate a huge story. Just like happens in the NCAA basketball tournament. The sports are not the same.
Unwatchable bowl games? When number 9 plays number 24 in a 24-team format and wins by three touchdowns, it will produce the same result: Unwatchable
So, we’ve come full circle🤔
Entered the year 1995 into the Flux Capacitor, slept through 19 meaningless bowl games, and one MNC (mythical national championship) …
Nebraska applying a Husker-sized whipping to Steve Spurrier’s backside.
"Smart said. “It’s gotten to the point where if you’re not in there (CFP field), there’s no value in a good ol’ bowl game.”
These "good ol' bowl games" lost value when there became so many that every team that goes 6-5 are eligible. This expanded playoff will not only be the final nail for bowl games, it will probably make the early rounds of the playoffs equally as meaningless as top ranked teams get matched up with FCS teams (look for a couple more of those), and possibly a team that is deemed eligible to satisfy the DEI crowd.
Might as well go ahead and sell out CFB to a hedge fund at this point
I say move the regular season to just (10) games, all against P4 opponents, getting rid of the 1-2 cupcake games. Start the season in Week Zero. Get rid of the Conferemce Championships. Start the playoffs (2) after the regular season ends (Army-Navy game on that BYE weekend). This put the NC game completed in a reasonable timeframe in early - mid January.
We all knew this was coming. Like it or not, expect several teams in each conference potentially to be playing each other twice during the season & playoffs (which doesn't happen in the 24-team FCS playoffs, because the conferences do not overlap competition during the regular season).
I have been complaining abput the non-CFP bowl games ( over 40 now) money grab for years now.
This 24-team playoff should officially render the remaining non-CFP bowl season officially DEAD. It's been dying a slow death for several years already. This should end it. 7-5 and 6-6 teams don't deserve bowls, and relatively few watch the games. Opt-outs have become rampant, even in the few better non-CFP bowls.
@dirtroaddawg....while I definitely agree with some of your analysis, I don't think this will diminish the interest and watchability of college football much if any.
Just look at the NFL. Viewership continues to set records. Many fans complained about adding more games to the regular season and increasing the number of teams in the playoffs. It has only increased viewership. Teams play each other multiple times during the regular season and in the playoffs. People keep watching. The same thing might well happen to college football in the CFP.
Personally, I think (16) teams is the sweet spot. I don't want to see teams playing each other more than once. But I do like that more playoff games will be on campuses.
I will keep watching even though I know this is a money grab 100%. But isn't everything in America?
I just do get the need to have a 24-team playoff. I think you will have teams that are not even worthy enough to be in the playoffs. I think this is all about money. Less is more is a saying for a reason. You also prolong a season, giving the players a chance to get injured for the season or just wearing teams down. Just not a fan. I think we are fine where we are.
Honestly, I think the lack of legally enforceable rules and regulations surrounding college football (and other college sports) are a more serious threat to the future of the sport than a lack of fan interest.
Appreciate your views. It clearly and unequivocally will diminish the interest and watchability for some of us. I find it interesting so many comments (not specifically yours) keep saying something along the lines of " you will continue to watch, and you will enjoy it because there is no other choice", as if pronouncing so will force it to happen.
Perhaps they are counting on people that are easily told what/how to enjoy, and perhaps there are enough people that will do just that. Conversely, perhaps I am just old and obstinate. As I stated, I dropped the NFL years ago, nothing missing in my life from that decision. When the product is no longer the product, I just don't think anyone is capable of forcing the "new" product, which is no longer the original product, upon me with instructions to keep watching and like it.
If the measure of success is becoming more and more and more like the NFL, and getting those "positive" results of the all important never ending increasing viewership numbers, and essentially have having the same financial structure and incentives of the NFL, driven by the corporate stooges that decide what we will have and like it, do we really have CFB anymore in a recognizable way? I suppose one could convince themselves of that if they were so inclined.
It will diminish interest for some of us and we will move on. Enough to move the needle? I sort of doubt it, sadly. While annoying it is not tragedy, life goes on.
For some of us, it is the esprit de corp that college football has represented for fans that pro football cannot in equal measure evoke. Ties to your school is often familial and begins in infancy. Whether you eventually go to that school or not, the ties remain. A lot of that I believe relates to your generational geography and the relative proximity of your regular foes. With mega conferences, the worst of which is represented by the B10, extended travel alone is a negative influence. Now, we will further limit the natural rivalries by removing conference championship games. Perhaps we will create in the future new conferences every year presented by preseason projections by our best computer odds makers. No need for extended loyalties in that format.
The playoffs, are highly valuable. When compared to one week of bowls with questionable value, the 24 team playoff will provide nearly an entire month of viewer revenue stimulated by the stake their respective teams have in the process. The 24 team playoff is inevitable, and I hope I'm here for it!
Since the CFP started with 4 teams, I've argued that 8 is the right number, and I stand by that. By the end of the season, only eight teams are good enough to compete for a national championship. Last year's first-round playoff games were bad football, with teams that shouldn't have been competing for a championship, to the point that two teams (Tulane, Ole Miss) had their head coaches preparing to leave for other programs. All this expansion does is water down the product, and it will make fans lose interest until they get down to the final 4. I get that the coaches want it for bragging rights, but that will fade. On December 2, 2025, the CFP ranking included six 9-3 teams and one 8-4 team.
I’m sorry, but the SEC Championship still does and should always mean something. The sunsetting of that game is a horrible result of a totally unnecessary glob of games with totally non-deserving 3 loss teams.
It’s bad for the sport but more than that, it is bad for the conference.
Honestly, 24-team playoff will not stop me from watching UGA games and it won't stop me from watching other games. I watch games for the competitiveness or because I am interested in a team. I have not watched any games that I can remember simply because teams might or might not make the playoff. On the hopeful side of things, maybe this can replace a Georgia-Western Kentucky regular season game with a Georgia-Nebraska elimination game at Sanford in the 2nd round of the playoffs…that would be an improvement I can deal with. Instead of a lot of questionable quality teams sneaking in at 8-4, just let every conference champion have an automatic bid. At least that rewards a team that accomplished something…rest of the bids go to at-large. That would add little urgency to regular season, maybe even more than exists now. Limit non-champions to 2 losses. No FCS games and only 1 group of 6 game. But hey, what do I know…
