There’s lots of discourse around the College Football Playoff and the number of teams it should have. I think the format they have right now is competitive and meaningful. I don’t think upping to a 16- or even — I’ve seen a lot of debate around this — a 24-team playoff is necessarily a good idea.
I think a lot of the problem with college football right now is based around the transfer portal and NIL. Viewers feel like they aren’t necessarily watching teams unfold, but rather watching the biggest programs in the nation rent out talent from across the country every year. Expanding the playoff wouldn’t fix that, and it could take away one of the few things the sport still has going for it.
Still, I think the College Football Playoff gives the regular season meaning. Every single year, teams have to play their hardest to even have a chance at sniffing it, and in most cases, a single loss can mean your season’s over. Every single week matters. I think that with the expansion of the College Football Playoff, you lose some of that magic, some of the meaning to the regular season, and you watch more teams skate by into contention.
