At this point it’s only a matter of time until the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams. Final voting still has to take place for this change to be official, but it’s looking like the playoff field will expand to 24 teams for the 2027 season.
Many college football fans across the country believe this is a bad decision, Georgia however is proving this year why an expanded playoff is actually a good thing.
An expanded playoff gives Georgia more breathing room
Georgia just suffered their first loss of the season this past weekend to Auburn. Back in the BCS era this would’ve likely ended their hopes of winning a national championship, and even in the 4-team playoff they may not have been able to make the playoff anymore. Now in the 12-team playoff they still have good odds of making the CFP.
Imagine now if the playoff field was 24 teams. Any one loss wouldn’t eliminate a team from playoff contention, instead teams would have a lot of breathing to make it into the playoff field. This is a great thing for the top programs like Georgia because their chances of making the playoff every season are nearly 100 percent.
Having as many big brands in the playoff is what’s best for college football. It creates more exciting matchups for fans across the country while pleasing the TV networks and advertisers putting these games on.
An expanded playoff isn’t just a good thing for programs like Georgia though because it significantly benefits the teams who don’t stand much of a chance at ever making the 12-team playoff as well.
An expanded playoff won’t make the regular season meaningless
One of the biggest arguments against an expanded playoff is that it will decrease the importance of the regular season. While that may be accurate to a certain extent with teams like Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama being able to lose multiple games and not have to sweat missing the playoff, so many other teams now have a chance to make the playoff field now.
A 9-3 season is a good year for the average program. There are only a handful of programs who should be upset with that record, so the 95 percent of teams who would be happy with a 9-3 season now have something more meaningful to play for. Instead of being essentially out of playoff contention if they lose a few games they still have everything to play for with the goal of making the CFP still being in tact.
For the top programs in the country each regular season game still matters too. The difference between going 11-1 and 10-2 is still relevant because that will impact seeding, home field advantage and how easy or difficult their path in the playoff will be.
So while teams like Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama might never miss the playoff in a 24-team field, every game they play will still impact their path in the College Football Playoff.
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