Could a 24-Team College Football Playoff Actually Be a Good Thing?

Earlier this week, the NCAA announced they will expand the College Football Playoffs from 12 to 24 teams. Since this announcement, most of the college football watching world seems incredibly frustrated. As we’ve expanded the playoffs from 2 to 4 to 12 and now 24, the regular season's importance has been diluted.

More than that, many feel this playoff expansion exists only to justify teams spending millions on their rosters. At some point, these 8-4 or 9-3 power conference programs were going to stop getting booster support when their teams couldn’t make a meaningful playoff game, so now everybody is getting a shot at a playoff spot.

I totally understand how frustrating these decisions seem. Objectively, this decision isn't made for the betterment of football; it was only done to line the pockets of millionaires and billionaires. That said, is there a world where a 24-team playoff is actually a good thing?

First off, the regular season is already pretty meaningless in college football. If your team wasn’t good enough to qualify for a 12-team playoff, it’s highly unlikely that they can win a national title. As it stands, only three or four teams can seriously contend for a national championship anyway, so why not expand the playoffs and open the door for some fun regular-season games.

Indiana is canceling future non-conference games against any teams with a pulse, so with the expansion, why don’t we require these conferences to play each other? In college basketball, Big Ten vs. ACC showdowns are some of the best parts of the regular season. I know football is a different sport than basketball, and a true Cinderella is far less likely, but expansion creates more opportunities for one.

When the CFP expanded to 12 teams, they finally added a spot for non-Power Four teams, but that spot is pretty pointless. The non-power conference team makes the playoffs, gets crushed, and that’s the end of things. Even if they pulled off the upset in the first round, they’d still struggle to string together three more playoff wins.

Now, with an expanded playoffs, they’re far more likely to face a team at their level, raising the odds of these teams actually winning a playoff game. They weren’t going to win a national championship regardless of the setup. Big teams spend so much more than smaller teams, and that gap is only widening, but it could shrink if these schools genuinely feel they have a chance to win a playoff game or two.

No more conference championship games?

Another big fix with a 24-team playoff is removing a pointless conference championship game. The conference championship game has become a punishment for whatever teams even make it that far. Unless you win your conference and get an automatic bye to the playoffs, winning the conference can really only hurt your chances of making the playoffs. Also, teams like Notre Dame can no longer avoid playing an extra game just because they are the only serious contender that doesn’t play in a conference.

Lastly, my final positive for expansion is exactly what the NCAA wants its dumb, football-brained consumers to think. I’m excited there’s more meaningful college football. Yes, there will be blowouts. No, this won’t really alter who wins national titles. I spend my Saturdays watching college football from noon until whenever Hawaii finishes. If that means I get to watch more important games in December instead of players opting out of meaningless bowl games, then I’m all in for the change.