Why ESPN's 24-Team College Football Playoff May Fail

Segment Spotlight: Quick Hits From Pushing The Odds with Matt Perrault

Why Expanding to a 14-Team College Football Playoff Is a Mistake

The 14-team playoff is going to happen. That is not a surprise, but the expansion could end much of the controversy, conversation, and drama that made so many of last Saturday’s games matter.

Under a larger format, a team such as Ohio State could still reach the playoff despite having three losses. Ohio State does not belong in the playoff this year. Julian Say going down may have derailed the team, but the Buckeyes’ defense was also beaten badly by Oregon at home. If resumes and head-to-head results matter, putting a three-loss Ohio State team into the playoff would be a problem.

ESPN is pursuing expansion for the money, viewership, and ratings that a 14-team playoff could generate. With its SEC contract and control of the playoff games, the incentive is to keep expanding because people will watch.

However, there is a saturation point. Fans may eventually decide to skip the early rounds and return for the semifinals. The first week of last year’s 12-team playoff was disappointing, and expanding the field further could make it even harder to create an interesting bracket.

The 14-team format would even be larger than the NFL playoff field, which already feels long. Nobody asked for this expansion or clamored for it, yet it is still coming. The decision appears to be driven by money, and ESPN may eventually realize that the playoff became too large and needs to be scaled back.