Hey, Notre Dame!  Listen-up, Vandy fans.  You, too, BYU!

How about getting behind today’s idea which would have placed your favorite large division (FBS) college football team into a new 24-team College Football Playoff system?

The latest and greatest 12-team College Football Playoff format began last year in the 2024 football season.  The howling has continued about which teams make the 12-team field and which teams don’t.

Last year, it was Alabama’s fans crying about being left out. 

A few weeks ago, it was Notre Dame’s fans and administrators yelling the loudest about being left out of the 12-team field.

Why don’t we hear similar complaints coming schools in the smaller division FCS?

The FCS (comprised of 129 teams) has a smoothly-working playoff system which includes its top 24 teams.

That’s right!  They begin with twice as many playoff teams as the major college FBS group (which had 136 teams this season).

This year’s FCS playoffs began with eight first-round games played on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

After the first three rounds of elimination games, the two FCS semifinal games will be played this coming Saturday.  Surprising Illinois State visits Villanova and Montana State will host intrastate rival Montana.

The FCS title game will be played on Monday, January 5, 2026 at 6:30PM CST in Nashville, Tennessee on ESPN.

Contrast that with the FBS and its cantankerous 12-team College Football Playoff system

The larger schools haven’t even played one first round playoff game yet.

Friday night will have Alabama traveling to play Oklahoma (a rematch from November 15 in Tuscaloosa won by OU 23-21).  Three more opening round games will be played this Saturday.

One of Saturday’s games features yet another rematch as Tulane visits Ole Miss for the second time this year.

The larger schools’ College Football Playoffs will not crown a champion until Monday, January 19, 2026!

Think about this.

If #1 seed Indiana should reach the championship game, the Hoosiers’ spring semester would have been underway for a full week prior to the championship game involving last fall semester’s athlete/students.

That is absurd!

It is a consequence when major college football conferences and universities become hooked on television money.  The networks now dictate how, where, and when their games are played.

How many total games are played in the FCS playoffs vs. the major College Football Playoffs?

From start to finish, the small college FCS playoffs include 24 teams.

The top eight seeds receive a first round bye.  The remaining 16 teams play eight first round games to trim the field to 16.  Another eight games are played in the second round, four in the quarterfinals, two in the semifinals, and finally the national championship.

That makes a total of 23 playoff opportunities for television.  The FCS winner and runner-up may end-up playing five post-season games by January 5.

Meanwhile, the 12-team major College Football Playoffs have 12 teams playing “4+4+2+1” for a total of 11 games.  The winner and runner-up will play no less than three but as many as four post-season games ending on January 19.

Would anyone really care if we lost the major conference championship games?

To emulate the small college playoff system, the major college (FBS) current 12-game regular season would not provide for an extra week to play those made-for-TV conference championship games.

Eliminating conference championship games would end the complaining from the losers of those title games.

For example, look at the SEC. Why should 11-1 Ole Miss and 11-1 Texas A&M receive a week to heal-up at home after “losing” the SEC’s four-team tiebreaker for first place? 

Were 11-1 Georgia and 10-2 Alabama privileged – or penalized – by participating in the SEC Conference Championship earlier this month?

This season, there were nine different conference championship games being played on the weekend of Saturday, December 6.

The television partners carrying those conference title games (primarily Disney’s ESPN/ABC group) can fight over who will carry our new format’s eight first-round match-ups.

Raise your hand if you would really miss losing six bowl games under this new 24-team plan!

Adding the 12 additional playoff teams would eliminate six annual bowl games.  Before grabbing your box of Kleenex, please remember that 26 bowl games still remain for the 52 remaining teams which finish with at least a 6-6 record.

ESPN’s massive bowl-a-rama of post-season games would receive an overdue trim.  The television ratings for any first round playoff game will easily eclipse Tuesday night’s “Salute to the Military” Bowl (won 17-13 by Jacksonville State over Troy).

Who would be playing in a 24-team major College Football Playoff scenario?

Let’s utilize the current FCS (small college) selection and its playoff format.  I will also use the major College Football Playoff rankings to determine this year’s 24-team playoff field.

Part 1 – Select the nine conference champions and 15 at-large teams based on the CFP rankings

Nine conference champions – The following nine teams receive an automatic bid:

American – CFP #20 Tulane (11-2)

Atlantic Coast (ACC) – unranked Duke (8-5)

Big 12 – Texas Tech CFP #4 (12-1)

Big Ten – Indiana CFP #1 (13-0)

Conference USA – unranked Kennesaw State (10-3)

Mid-American – unranked Western Michigan (9-4)

Mountain West – unranked Boise State (9-4)

Southeastern (SEC) – Georgia CFP #3 (12-1)

Sunbelt – CFP #24 James Madison (12-1)

15 At-large teams – These participants are selected from the CFP’s highest ranked remaining teams. They would have been:

#2 Ohio State (12-1) – Big Ten

#5 Oregon (11-1) – Big Ten

#6 Ole Miss (11-1) – SEC

#7 Texas A&M (11-1) – SEC

#8 Oklahoma (10-2) – SEC

#9 Alabama (9-3) – SEC

#10 Miami (FL) (10-2) – ACC

#11 Notre Dame (10-2) – Independent

#12 BYU (11-2) – Big 12

#13 Texas (9-3) – SEC

#14 Vanderbilt (10-2) – SEC

#15 Utah (10-2) – Big 12

#16 USC (9-3) – Big Ten

#17 Arizona (9-3) – Big 12

#18 Michigan (9-3) – Big Ten

Part 2 – Determine the top eight overall seeds by utilizing the CFP Final rankings

These teams would receive a “bye” in Round 1 and host a playoff game on their campus during Round 2 the following weekend.

#1 – Indiana (13-0)

#2 – Ohio State (12-1)

#3 – Georgia (12-1)

#4 – Texas Tech (12-1)

#5 – Oregon (11-1)

#6 – Ole Miss (11-1)

#7 – Texas A&M (11-1)

#8 – Oklahoma (12-1)

Part 3 – The next eight seeds (#9-16) will host a first round playoff game on their campus

This year’s first round home games would go to:

#9 Alabama (9-3)

#10 Miami (FL) (10-2)

#11 Notre Dame (10-2)

#12 BYU (11-2)

#13 Texas (9-3)

#14 Vanderbilt (10-2)

#15 Utah (10-2)

#16 USC (9-3)

Part 4 – The final eight teams in the playoff field do not receive a seeding

Those final eight teams (according to the College Football Playoff rankings) would be: Arizona, Michigan, Tulane, James Madison, Duke, Kennesaw State, Western Michigan, and Boise State.

Like the FCS small college playoffs, first round match-ups would be based on geographic proximity and the avoidance of conference rematches from the regular season.

Let’s do a little first round matchmaking.  Grab your ancient Rand McNally maps and let’s go!

#9 Alabama vs. Kennesaw State (202 miles)

#10 Miami (FL) vs. James Madison (1,026 miles)

#11 Notre Dame vs. Western Michigan (85 miles)

#12 BYU vs. Boise State (390 miles)

#13 Texas vs. Tulane (534 miles)

#14 Vanderbilt vs. Duke (527 miles)

#15 Utah vs. Michigan (1,621 miles)

#16 USC vs. Arizona (491 miles)

Part 5 – The eight first round winners hit the road in Round 2 to play at Seeds #1 – 8 in the second round.

Since this is the first game for the top seeded teams, match-ups would consider geographic proximity and the avoidance of replaying a conference opponent.

Part 6 – The highest seeded teams would continue to host games during the quarterfinals.

At this point, the top seeds will simply host any unseeded teams or any remaining team with the highest seed number (for example, #1 vs. an unranked team or #16 or #15, etc.). Rematches between two regular season opponents are permitted at this point.

Part 7 – The semifinal round will be played on New Year’s Day

The “Final Four” would play a semifinal game at two of the former “big” New Year’s Day bowl game sites (Cotton, Rose, Sugar, and Orange).

Part 8 – The national championship game would be played one week later and rotated at one of the former “big” New Year’s Day bowl sites (not being utilized in the semifinal round)

Let’s summarize these changes if major college football should adopt the small college FCS 24-team playoff concept:

No more conference championship games

As a result, no more squabbling about the losing teams in conference title games

12 additional playoff teams

More home playoff games

Generating more television interest

Six fewer lower-tier bowl games

What are we waiting for?

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