CFP, NCAA Tournament expansion both draw backs, but one is worse than the other.
There has been a lot of talk and panic lately about the expansion of both the College Football Playoff and the NCAA Tournament.
Judging by the reactions of fans and pundits alike on social media, the decision to expand the fields for both seasons in the “money game” of college athletics was met with disgust almost everywhere.
Although the NCAA Tournament has officially grown to 76 teams, the CFP committee and the powers that be are discussing opening the field to a 24-team playoff.
Both of these are bad for anyone who loves the culture in college sports (as you know, I’m one of them), but, in my opinion, one of these is clearly worse than the other.
NCAA EXPANSION PROPOSAL REACHES FINAL STAGE: REPORT
The College Football Playoff National Championship trophy is displayed on the sideline during the fourth quarter of the game between Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 22, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Photos)
Yes, expanding the NCAA Tournament (for now) is a slap in the face to fans everywhere and an obvious money grab, but it doesn’t come close to how dangerous the 24-team College Football Playoff can be to the game of college football.
Ultimately, it’s a numbers game.
March Madness going from 68 to 76 teams represents a roughly 12% increase in the number of teams added to the field, hardly a drop in the bucket in an already crowded season after season.
If you compare that to the 100% increase that the 24 teams in the College Football Playoff will represent, we’re not even talking about the same game.
The regular season in college football also has fewer games than the regular season in college basketball, and, as my colleague Ian Miller pointed out, a 24-team field would just make a once-great regular season smaller than it already is.
It’s a zero-sum game. When the College Football Playoff grows, the urgency of the regular season diminishes in comparison, and in a game that has been, arguably, the most common regular season in sports, that’s a big blow.
Consider how badly teams like James Madison and Tulane have smoked in their respective playoff games. Now think about teams like Virginia, Georgia Tech and Navy in the postseason as well.
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Inglewood Mayor James Butts and ESPN SportsCenter anchor Ashley Brewer pose with the College Playoff trophy during the 2023 CFP National Championship press conference at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on April 19, 2022. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
As I’ve discussed in the past, college basketball lends itself well to upsets in a single-elimination tournament format.
A developed talent profile along the lines of drafting only “big boys” makes it nearly impossible for Cinderella to make a deep run in the CFP.
Meanwhile, all you need is a hot day from beyond the arc for David to sink Goliath in the month of March.
Indiana Hoosiers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans watch the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Ind., on Dec. 20, 2024. (Photos by Matt Cashore/Imagn)
The aggressive and fast-paced nature of the extended playoffs is also affecting.
A few years ago, we had a four-team playoff (which most fans were well behaved for, mind you). How we got to 24 teams in less than half a decade is beyond me.
When the NCAA Tournament became a 76-team bracket, it came a decade and a half after adding four more teams to the Big Dance.
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The expansion is bad news any way you slice it for both games, but pretending we’re dealing with the same issues is ignorant.
This will fall on deaf ears, because the powers that be haven’t considered the fans when making big decisions in the long run (real, passionate fans, anyway).
Run away from it. Be afraid. Expansion comes to all of us alike.
