College Football’s new 12 team playoffs

The College Football playoffs are switching up starting in 2024. They are going from a four team playoff to a 12-team playoff. One of the main reasons the College Football Playoff Committee is expanding to 12-teams instead of four is there will be more access for teams that wouldn’t usually make the four-team playoffs. This will make it more exciting for fans, players, and the students.

Many fans complain about the playoffs and say teams like Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama seem to get into the playoffs almost every year. The new playoffs will create more games to be played which will give the committee and individual schools more money.

The more games that are being played gives better chances for upsets to occur. But on the other hand it also gives more chances for blowouts because the smaller schools that wouldn’t usually make the playoffs would have to play the top tier schools.

For example this year TCU made the four team playoffs for the very first time and upset Michigan to make it to the National Championship game where they had to play Georgia. Georgia won 65-7 and made history by setting the record for largest margin of victory in a College Football Playoff game. This is what many fans say will happen in the opening rounds of the new playoffs.

I was fortunate enough to to ask Dan Hope, a journalist covering Ohio State football, questions about what he thought about the new playoffs rules.

I started by asking him what his overall thoughts on the new 12-team expansion were. “I think playoff expansion is good for college football because it will give many more teams a legitimate chance to make the CFP and compete for a championship. While the four-team playoff has been largely dominated by traditional powerhouses, the 12-team playoff will give fan bases around the country hope that their team can make it to the biggest stage.”

The new rules will also keep more fan bases involved throughout the entire season as their playoff chances won’t be destroyed after a loss or two. Since there are eight more playoff spots available, there will be many more games at the end of the regular season and on conference championship weekend with playoff implications. The more games with playoff implications are more entertaining and better for College Football.

I also asked Dan how he thinks the new playoffs will affect big schools like Ohio State. “For schools like Ohio State and Alabama, making the College Football Playoff will go from being a goal to simply an expectation.”

The bigger schools will now have an easier path to the playoffs. The schools that usually would make the four-team playoffs will now also be able to make noise in the playoffs even in a down year since those teams are always talented year in and year out.  One of the only drawbacks to this advantage is that they’ll have to win more games against top competition to win a championship than they’ve ever had. 

Another question I had for him was are you in favor of the new expansion? He added, “I am very much in favor of playoff expansion. While I understand the argument some make that it will take away from the regular season, in that there won’t be quite as much on the line with each individual game, I think that will only be true for the teams at the top of the rankings.” 

A majority of the teams will actually have more to play for at the end of the season because there will be more teams who could still make the CFP, when in previous years they would have already been eliminated.

In my opinion I think the expanded playoffs will be a lot of fun to watch. It may give the College Football Playoff more of an NFL playoffs/March Madness feel, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Finally I asked him if the new playoffs will provide more money for the individual schools? “Without a doubt. While there are plenty of competitive reasons for playoff expansion, the biggest reason why it’s happening is it’s going to make a lot of money for those involved with the CFP.”

The more playoff games means more money in the CFP’s next TV deal and more ticket sales, and a significant portion of that money will go back to the schools and conferences in the CFP. 

I also am in favor of the new playoffs because I think it will be a better experience for the fans and give the teams a better shot at making the national championship.