It’s hard to find many people in support of the new format, which seemingly will further devalue the regular season and has resulted in the Power 4 conferences doing away with conference championship games.
Josh Pate, one of college football’s prominent media personalities, voiced his displeasure with the official announcement of the 24-team playoff.
“The intellectually bankrupt framing of CFP expansion as this 1:1 value proposition of trading bowl games for playoff games is the stupidest part of it all.
Whatever value bowl games had was fixed to begin with…you either care or you don’t. The only value you’re actually redistributing here (not creating) is coming from regular season Saturdays.
Unfortunately there is a small but influential group of people incapable of defining value in CFB unless a CFP sticker is slapped onto the sentence.
Here’s to hoping proper leadership is in place by the time this deal expires.”
Whatever value bowl games had was fixed to begin with…you either care or you don’t. The only value you’re actually
It’s a scathing assessment of a decision that many college football fans have voiced their displeasure with since the 24-team playoff was first agreed upon more than a month ago, according to The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel and Ralph D. Russo.
Rich Clark, College Football Playoff’s executive director, addressed the fan outrage during a teleconference with the media on Monday, according to Tony Gerdeman of Buckeye Insiders.
“We’re aware of the fan sentiment and that many fans aren’t in favor of expansion, but that was certainly weighed into the decision. It was considered, but ultimately, we just need to make a spectacular playoff. The CFP has a responsibility to our fans. They’re the lifeblood of college football, and we owe it to them to make this great, and that really is our intent. But we appreciate our fans. We did take into account their sentiment, and that was rolled into this decision, but we decided to move forward with it.”
“Spectacular” seems to be the buzzword for Clark and the CFP.
In its official announcement, the CFP also released a statement from Clark reiterating that commitment.
“We will make the 24-team Playoff spectacular for the fans, student-athletes, their institutions and all our stakeholders. That is our commitment. Our organization delivers a world-class championship experience at our games and our events, and this promise will continue under the new format. 23 games of playoff football featuring 24 ranked teams going head-to-head for the right to be crowned the true national champion.”
The College Football Playoff debuted with a four-team format in 2014, which remained in place through the 2023 season. The 12-team format was introduced in 2024 and will last just three seasons before the playoff expands again in 2027.
Josh Pate Blasts College Football Playoff’s 24-Team Expansion