College Football Playoff Reportedly Cements Expansion Plans And Fans Are Divided

College Football Playoff Tentative 12-Team Expansion Plan Divides Fans

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It’s been close to a decade since college football waved goodbye to the BCS Era and welcome the College Football Playoff that’s been used to crown a national champion since the first four-team tournament was held to cap off the 2014-15 season.

The primary goal of the CFP was to give more teams a chance to compete for a title in the hopes it would diminish the controversy surrounding the process that was previously used to determine who was dubbed the best of the best (along with an unstated secondary goal of possibly prevented Alabama from appearing in the de facto championship game every single year).

However, what seemed like a good idea in theory hasn’t necessarily worked out in practice. There’s arguably been more debate concerning which teams have earned the right to compete than there was prior to their introduction, and over the past eight years, Alabama has been one of the last two schools standing on six different occasions and walked away with the trophy three times.

That reality has led to a push to expand the CFP, and last summer, a subcommittee tasked with dreaming up a potential solution floated the concept of a 12-team playoff. Earlier this year, director Bill Hancock stated it was unlikely any changes would be instated prior to 2026, but this week, reports surfaced that suggested the timeline could be pushed up and that an official announcement was imminent.

On Friday, we got confirmation confirming one of those facets, as Pete Thamel of ESPN reports the CFP has officially voted to approve the 12-team playoff that is currently en route to rolling out in 2026 (although that could ultimately change).

It’s not entirely clear what the format will look like. A proposal that was floated in 2021 would give the six highest-ranked conference champions an automatic bid and reserve six more at-large spots for other contenders, and the nature of a 12-team bracket means it’s likely a group of the best squads would receive automatic byes.

However, what is clear is that college football fans aren’t entirely sure how to feel.

Plenty of fans have voiced their support for a move that would theoretically give more teams a shot at a championship

Based on the initial reactions, there’s no shortage of fans who are all in.

Others are a bit more skeptical but seem open to the move.

Others seem to think expanding to 12 teams will only delay the inevitable and have aired various grievances

For example, Darren Rovell seems to think the expansion could diminish the importance of the regular season.

Others have also implied the worst teams won’t stand a fighting chance and that there’s a very good possibility the last four teams remaining will end up being the first four who would’ve received an invite prior to expansion.

I guess we’ll just have to wait until 2026 (or possibly sooner) to find out for sure.

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Connor Toole avatar and headshot for BroBible
Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.