A 24-team CFP? Just give in and hand out participation trophies already

Q: What is the proposed format for the 24-team College Football Playoff?

The proposed format for the 24-team College Football Playoff includes a first round that has been approved by coaches as the future of the sport.

Q: When will the expanded College Football Playoff format be implemented?

The expanded College Football Playoff format is set to be implemented starting in the 2025 season.

Q: What are the main criticisms of the 24-team College Football Playoff proposal?

Critics argue that expanding to a 24-team playoff resembles handing out participation trophies, diluting the competitive nature of college football.

Q: Who supports the expansion of the College Football Playoff?

The American Football Coaches Association has made it clear that they support the expansion to a 24-team College Football Playoff.

A 24-team CFP? Just give in and hand out participation trophies already

The American Football Coaches Association made clear Tuesday where it stands on the future of an expanded College Football Playoff.

May as well give in and give out participation trophies.

Before we go further, it’s my duty to show, in black and white print, what the proposed first round of a 24-team CFP from the 2025 season — a format approved by coaches as the smart future of the sport — looks like.

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Shade your eyes, everyone. It’s hideous.

(24) Georgia Tech at (9) Notre Dame
(23) North Texas at Miami (10)
(22) Navy at (11) Alabama
(21) Arizona at (12) BYU
(20) Virginia at (13) Vanderbilt
(19) James Madison at (14) Texas
(18) Michigan at (15) Utah
(17) Tulane at (16) USC

Look at it. Take a long, hard look at it.

A general view of the inside of the stadium prior to the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners during 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on December 19, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma.

Tory Blaylock #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners hurdles Justin Jefferson #10 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first quarter during 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on December 19, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma.

John Mateer #10 of the Oklahoma Sooners is hit by Deontae Lawson #0 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first quarter during 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on December 19, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma.

John Mateer #10 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs the ball for touchdown during the first quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide during 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on December 19, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma.

Head coach Kalen Deboer of the Alabama Crimson Tide speaks with head coach Brent Venables of the Oklahoma Sooners prior to the 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on December 19, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma.

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See the best photos from Oklahoma vs Alabama in CFP first round

The Sooner Schooner takes the field prior to the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide during 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on December 19, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma.

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See the best photos from Oklahoma vs Alabama in CFP first round

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See the best photos from Oklahoma vs Alabama in CFP first round

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See the best photos from Oklahoma vs Alabama in CFP first round

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See the best photos from Oklahoma vs Alabama in CFP first round

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See the best photos from Oklahoma vs Alabama in CFP first round

That’s what the AFCA is selling. That’s what the Big Ten is selling, and what the Big 12 and ACC and Notre Dame eventually signed off on.

The SEC presidents and chancellors, and commissioner Greg Sankey — who want no part of this nonsense and prefer 16 teams if the current 12-team field expands — aren’t the boogeymen of college football. They’re 300 Spartans facing the Persian Empire.

Seriously, have we lost our collective minds?

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We know why coaches (some, not all) want a 24-team field: more teams, more opportunity to reach the Holy Grail of the sport and keep high-paying jobs. Frankly, I don’t begrudge multimillion dollar job security.

But not at the expense of turning the first round of the CFP into the first week of the regular season. Not at potentially forcing college football down the road to perdition.

I’ve seen JMU at Texas and North Texas at Alabama. They’re called body-bag games.

Overmatched program with limited resources plays heavyweight on the road, and gets a $2 million gift to take a beating. Only now, the AFCA is trying to sell it as a first round playoff game, juicing it as another round of elite playoff games on campus.

Like anyone believes that garbage.

For this monstrosity of an idea, the AFCA wants to eliminate two of the most important and successful games of the college football season — the SEC and Big Ten championship games — and jump straight into the embarrassment of everyone chasing the almighty dollar.

Coaches, universities and players.

Because that’s all a 24-team playoff does for college football, even though some industry experts still question the monetary value of expanding the CFP past 16 teams. I’m sure ESPN and Fox — to say nothing of Amazon and Netflix and Apple — will pay hundreds of millions of dollars to get Arizona at BYU.

Imagine trying to pitch to Amazon, which pays a billion dollars annually for the NFL’s Thursday night games, the value of Navy at Alabama. Or telling Netflix, which just last year paid $150 million for four NFL games, that its first foray into college football will be JMU at Texas.

And pay us hundreds of millions of dollars!

Someone must step into the breach and stop this madness, before college football becomes an unholy bastardization of the NBA. If you don’t think that’s possible, check out what the NBA has become.

An association of overpaid and overvalued players and teams — essentially, an overvalued sport that has lost its gravitas — grinding through an 82-game regular season that not only allows load management of players, but encourages it. The NBA made that clear when it declared the minimum number of games played to be eligible for regular season awards (see: MVP) was 65.

That’s 17 gift excuses of “I ain’t feelin’ it today.”

If you don’t think load management is coming to college football with a 24-team CFP, you’re the same person who thinks Indiana won the national title because it had older players.

Older players no one else recruited or wanted, mind you.

Before you know it, Rivalry Week — a rare, end of regular season event and fabric of the sport — will be Load Management Week in a 24-team CFP. Why would anyone play a star player in a meaningless rivalry game that has no bearing on playoff seeding?

You know, the same argument coaches use now for not playing conference championship games. Why play a game that can only hurt you?

But buddy, we get LeBron on Christmas Day.

Everyone involved in this great money chase continuously harps on the “unsustainable” product, yet continues to throw down maxed credit cards to pay bills.

Alabama gave a $2.25 million annual raise to a football coach who lost eight games in his first two seasons. Nebraska extended a coach with a 19-18 career record, including 0-8 vs. ranked teams.

Both of those programs are now on the hook for more than $60 million in buyout money if it all goes horribly wrong.

Penn State tried to pay $49 million last fall to fire a coach who a year earlier, brought the team to within one play of the national championship game. LSU paid a coach $53 million to not coach.

Yet despite all that nonsensical spending, there’s still nothing that can bring college football to its knees.

Until a 24-team playoff becomes reality.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why a 24‑team College Football Playoff is a terrible idea