By Micheal Germanese
The Big Ten and SEC are at odds over what an expanded playoff format should look like. One thing is certain, though: Expanding the playoff again will certainly water down the regular season. College football had the most meaningful regular season in sports because perfection was the expectation. As the playoff expands, and losing becomes more and more acceptable, that tradition is thrown out.
College football has been evolving incredibly fast and it is becoming clear no one knows what the next 12 to 24 months have in store. The House settlement brought the biggest change in history, but with it came a slew of new issues from Title IX to paying players. As it seems more and more likely that college football is headed back to the courtroom, the last thing the sport needs at this point is another massive change.
The 2024 season brought the beginning of the 12-team playoff format, eliminating the four-team model. Like everything in college football, it wasn’t the smoothest rollout and there were problems to work out. But despite only having one year and very little data to go on, college football is still pushing for more change instead of stability.
NEW: Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz pitched a 30-team College Football Playoff with play-in games🤔
“Now you’re talking about an opportunity for 30 teams, 30 fanbases to be excited and engaged, engaged in giving revenue. You’ve got 30 teams with players who have access to compete for… pic.twitter.com/uwFQ2c8BMw
— On3 (@On3sports) July 17, 2025
Why the powerful conferences want an extended playoff is simple: More games, more money. The expanded playoff payday comes at the expense of losing tradition, rivalries and the greatest regular season in sports. Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes the trust for more keeps the people coming back.
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Perfection is the Expectation
The one thing that made college football different from other sports was the expectation to be perfect. It didn’t matter if it was a Week 2 matchup between Oregon and North Dakota State or a Week 12 one between Ole Miss and Texas A&M. Teams knew that one loss could derail the season. It was that expectation of perfection that made the college football regular season the greatest in all of sports.
In just the first year of the 12-team playoff, it took the greatest regular season in sports and made it mirror that of other sports. Notre Dame suffered one of the worst losses in program history, a 16-14 loss to NIU, which turned out to be meaningless. Ohio State lost to both Michigan and Oregon, didn’t play in the conference title and won the national championship. The 12-team playoff de-emphasizes the regular season. What would a 16-team playoff do?
Rivalries put on Life Support
The one thing Ohio State and Michigan agree on is that “The Game” is the only game that matters. A successful season was based on what you did in that one game. That was true up until last season, and The Game lost its meaning. Michigan beat Ohio State, Ohio State went on to win the national championship and the season was a success. And with the win, a celebration, one thing became crystal clear: the game no longer means as much as it did. It took one year for the 12-team playoff to eliminate the meaning behind one of the most heated rivalries in sports. What would a 16-team playoff do to it?
We really went from "Michigan doesn't take the rivalry serious enough" to Ohio State fans calling "The Game" a 'scrimmage.'
One of the most disrespectful and sad things I've ever heard about this rivalry.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. pic.twitter.com/ZqqqWO0Pkz
— Blue By 90 (@bluebyninety) January 23, 2025
Every rivalry will lose the significance that made it special as the playoff expands because the regular season games will just mean less. We have already seen in professional sports with the Philadelphia Eagles against the Dallas Cowboys or the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees. In professional sports, it’s just a game that you want to win just a little bit more, but fans no longer dwell on the loss.
The End of the Conference Championship
Why play a game that doesn’t matter? It used to be necessary to win your conference for a chance to win a national championship. That’s no longer the case with the expanded playoff. In 2024, both teams from the SEC, ACC and Big Ten that made their championship game participated in the playoffs. There have already been rumors of conferences switching from a championship game to a play-in style format.
It’s only a matter of time before players opt out of conference championship games. What’s beneficial from winning the SEC, Big Ten or ACC when both teams are in the playoff already? It’s not like it gets you home games throughout the playoffs.
And is it worth risking injuries to win a meaningless game? For Georgia, was it worth losing Carson Beck for the playoffs to win the SEC championship? If Kirby Smart had the pick to win the SEC or have Beck for the playoff run, I would bet he picks the playoffs.
The expansion of the playoffs has nothing to do with fans staying engaged or more teams getting in. It’s just about money – the more games, the more money made. The truth is that bigger is not always better. They’re going to find out if the expense of expansion is worth ruining the greatest regular season in all sports.
