Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-01**Lead**
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is edging closer to a radical expansion that would more than double its current field, with a 24-team format now being discussed by university presidents and conference commissioners. If approved, the move would fundamentally alter what many consider the most compelling regular season in American sports — a season in which every game carries playoff-or-bust stakes. The shift comes as the CFP faces mounting pressure to include more teams from the top conferences and to generate additional revenue, but the cost may be the very tension that has made college football unique.
**Context**
The current CFP format, which expanded from four to 12 teams in 2024, was itself a concession to demand for broader access. Even before that first 12-team playoff kicked off in December 2024, conversations had already begun about moving to 14, 16, or even 24 teams. The 2026 season is set to debut a 14-team bracket under a new six-year contract signed in 2025. But during the spring meetings of the CFP Board of Managers in June 2026, a working group presented a preliminary proposal for a 24-team model that could be implemented as early as 2028.
The proposal, first reported by The Athletic, calls for eight conference champions to receive automatic bids, along with 16 at-large selections. The top eight seeds would get first-round byes, while the remaining 16 teams would play four opening-round games on campus sites. The quarterfinals and semifinals would be held at neutral-site bowls, with the national championship game rotating among major venues. The plan still requires a unanimous vote from the 10 FBS conferences and ESPN, which holds the broadcast rights through 2031.
Supporters argue that a 24-team playoff would ensure that no worthy team is left out — especially after recent years saw three-loss SEC and Big Ten teams ranked ahead of undefeated Group of Five champions. But critics, including many coaches and longtime observers, warn that the expansion would fundamentally devalue the regular season. Under the current 12-team model, teams with two losses can still make the field, but three losses often eliminates them. In a 24-team format, even four-loss teams from power conferences could plausibly earn at-large bids, reducing the urgency of every September and October matchup.
**Análise**
The destruction of the regular season is not hyperbole; it is a mathematical certainty. The beauty of college football’s regular season has always been its scarcity — only 12 games, no second chances, and every result reverberates through the national title picture. In the NFL, 14 of 32 teams make the postseason, and fans accept that a 9-8 record can win a division. But college football’s identity rests on the idea that a single loss can end a championship dream. With 24 teams, roughly one-third of the FBS’s 133 teams would qualify. The regular season would shift from survival to a mere seeding exercise, where a September loss to an unranked opponent becomes a footnote rather than a catastrophe.
Moreover, the academic calendar would take another hit. The current 12-team playoff already stretches into late January, with first-round games beginning in mid-December. A 24-team field would likely require starting playoff games in early December, during final exam week for many schools. And the bracket would run through late January, pushing the championship game into February — overlapping with the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl. Television networks may welcome the content, but players and coaches would face a grueling four-month postseason gauntlet.
The financial incentives are undeniable. The CFP distributed roughly $600 million in 2025-26, and a 24-team model could push that figure past $1 billion. Conferences like the SEC and Big Ten, which dominate both power and revenue, stand to gain the most. But smaller conferences worry that automatic bids would be diluted or that the expanded field would reduce interest in their regular-season games, already overshadowed by the power leagues. The most vocal opposition has come from the Pac-12 (now rebuilt after the 2024 realignment) and the Mountain West, both of which fear that a 24-team playoff would cement the divide between the haves and have-nots.
Beyond economics, the cultural impact is equally profound. The phrase “every game matters” has been the unofficial motto of college football for decades. A 24-team playoff would effectively end that era. Regular-season games would still be important, but not in the same gut-wrenching way. A team could lose early, coast through November, and still sneak into the field as a No. 22 seed. The magic of College GameDay, the heated rivalries, the November chaos — all would be diminished by the safety net of a massive bracket. In the end, the sport may gain revenue but lose the very soul that made it America’s most intense regular-season spectacle.
**Fontes** - The Athletic: “CFP Working Group Proposes 24-Team Model for 2028” (June 2026) - ESPN: “College Football Playoff Expansion Talks Heat Up” (May 2026) - Sports Illustrated: “The College Football Playoff Is Ruining the Regular Season” (March 2026) - CBS Sports: “Commissioners Debate 24-Team Format” (April 2026) - CFP Board of Managers official minutes (June 2026, public summary)