16 teams the next two years followed by 24. With 24: no league Championship games; a 23 plus 1 group of 6 format; and no automatic qualifiers.

Big Ten eyes 24-team CFP, no league championship games - ESPN

The B1G has a businessman at the top. This proposal would rain more money down on top-level CFB than any other alternative proposal.

What I don't like: 24 instead of 16 teams, although the first round would be playoff play-in games like we see with the First 4 in the CBB tournament, quarterfinal games in bowls, and not on campus, and I would prefer a system with automatic qualifiers up to a point, which would result in better out-of-conference games and the additional money that would come with an SEC/B1G Challenge.

I've read three articles to date on why the Bama vs. Ohio State series in 2027-28 should not be canceled because of "The Good of the Game". Hogwash! ADs are paid to look out for the good of their program, and both Bama and Ohio State will have challenging in-conference nine-game schedules.

I reiterate, have a system with automatic qualifiers, and quality OOC games will follow.

I do like the elimination of conference champ games that are close to meaningless with today's expanded PO. I also think that a move to 16 teams would result in Week 0 becoming Week 1 and bring other positive and necessary changes to the CFB calendar.

This proposal could be for leverage only; an attempt at bringing the SEC back to a 16-team AQ format.

What effect will the SEC playing nine conference games this season have on Greg Sankey's PO format thinking? I'm rooting for many three or more losses SEC teams.

And I hope beyond hope that No. 12 seed Notre Dame knocks No. 11 seed LSU out of the PO.😁

Money will ultimately decide. The fans vote with eyes on the media broadcasts. Media execs are probably already in the ear of the conferences, they will offer a bag of money, and that will be how this plays out.

The Basketball tourney started at 8, went to 16, and finally landed on 64 in 1988, and if you count play in games 68 now.

The difference is that the NCAA is on the sidelines with the current CFP, and probably wants more control/money out of a deal.

36 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

I'm rooting for many three or more losses SEC teams.

I think that is inevitable. Winning on the road consistently against teams that have fans that hate your team is not easy.

College Football News: Why the B1G PO plan makes sense -

https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/big-ten-24-team-playoff-why-it-makes-sense

I like the expanded look, but I do NOT like any byes. Expand it to 32 and be done with it, or make it 16 with no byes, no conference championship games, and no conference "play-in" games.

They are in danger of making the season too long, and with depth being depleted with most of the elite teams from the portal...more games=more injuries.

So freakin' dumb to have 24 teams, that's an embarrassment, a 8-4 team has no business being in the playoff. Might as well allow a field of 64 at that point, just have the season go on forever.

Basketball, baseball, volleyball, all very different sports where having that many games makes sense. You can play multiple back to backs, you can't do that in football. Just cap it at 16 or 12.

I will add that I at least appreciate not having conference championship games.

I would hope that under this proposal that we would have games at home sites until the semi-finals. You have to be very wealthy to be able to go to all these playoff games, they can at least make it a bit easier by reducing the amount of games that you have to travel to.

Edited Friday at 09:52 PM1 day by spartan2785

5 hours ago, spartan2785 said:

So freakin' dumb to have 24 teams, that's an embarrassment, a 8-4 team has no business being in the playoff. Might as well allow a field of 64 at that point, just have the season go on forever.

Basketball, baseball, volleyball, all very different sports where having that many games makes sense. You can play multiple back to backs, you can't do that in football. Just cap it at 16 or 12.

I will add that I at least appreciate not having conference championship games.

I would hope that under this proposal that we would have games at home sites until the semi-finals. You have to be very wealthy to be able to go to all these playoff games, they can at least make it a bit easier by reducing the amount of games that you have to travel to.

I certainly understand your POV.

However, what if an 8-4 team played the most difficult schedule in a given season and a 10-2 team played the easiest schedule?

Last season with this format, No. 23, 8-4 Iowa, would have been the only 4-loss team in the field. And Iowa defeated 2-loss Vandy in a bowl game with all hands on deck except for an Iowa LB who will go in the first two rounds of the draft.

On 2/13/2026 at 1:04 PM, Charles Fischer said:

I like the expanded look, but I do NOT like any byes. Expand it to 32 and be done with it, or make it 16 with no byes, no conference championship games, and no conference "play-in" games.

They are in danger of making the season too long, and with depth being depleted with most of the elite teams from the portal...more games=more injuries.

The byes have been a giant failure. They don't want to sit while everybody else plays. And then they are rusty when they play.

32 is too many. #32 vs #1 first round is like Oregon playing Portland State. Any big 4 can climb to #16 by winning games.

Nobody owes anybody an invitation without earning it in the polls. Just because you beat junior varsity teams and have some wins doesn't mean you are great.

The glory of the conference championship games went away when they did away with the divisions. Back then, there was some pride in your division. Now, it is just an exhibition game kind of preview of the playoffs.

What they could do is bring back divisions (since the conferences are so big now) and factor that into the schedule and the polls as the season wears on.

I would be OK with the top 4 conferences getting their division winners in and then playing with just them.

To do that, ND would need to join a conference. The big 4 would have to pick up the pac12 teams that are worthy plus a few others. Or remake the pac12 and merge the southeast into one conference.

Even with 12 teams, those at the bottom of the best 12 cannot compete. That is just how the game is.

What the Big Ten's Expanded Playoff Proposal Would Mean for the Oregon Ducks

With the Big Ten reportedly proposing a 24-team bracket for the College Football Playoff, how would that change impact the Oregon Ducks' regular season?

Oregon Ducks On SI

What the Big Ten's Expanded Playoff Proposal Would Mean f...

The Big Ten is reportedly considering the idea of College Football Playoff expansion, and a potential 24-team bracket using the results of the 2025 season has b