Jeff Brohm, Louisville's Players Have Split Opinion on CFP Expansion

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Ever since the College Football Playoff debuted in 2014, there has been constant debate on whether the field should be expanded or not.

After consisting of four teams during the first 10 years of its existence, the CFP was later expanded to 12 teams starting in 2024. Though we are just two years into the expanded format, it seems inevitable that further expansion will occur. Whether it's 16 teams or 24 teams, there's been enough chatter to suggest it won't be at a dozen teams for much longer - with the two dozen option being the target that is generating the most buzz.

Regardless as the what the field expands to, Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm is in support of it.

"From my feeling, from the information I'm gathering, I think it's going to expand to 24. I don't see a problem with that," he said Monday. "I think if you look at college basketball, you look at the FCS level, 24 teams will provide an ability for teams from other conferences to get their best teams in, and have a bracket where you come out with the best champion."

Brohm's rationale for expansion is simple: it gives more teams - including Louisville - chances to go on a playoff run. He primarily cited Miami, who grabbed the final at-large spot in last season's bracket and received the No. 10 seed, and proceeded to go on a run all the way to the national championship before losing to No. 1 Indiana.

Strictly by seed line, there were three additional upsets in this past season's CFP. Fifth-seeded Oregon blanked fourth-seeded Texas Tech 23-0 in the Orange Bowl, sixth-seeded Ole Miss took down third-seeded Georgia 39-34 in the Sugar Bowl, and ninth-seeded Alabama mounted a comeback to defeat eighth-seeded Oklahoma 34-24 in Norman during the opening round. Not to mention that, in 2024, all four teams that clinched opening round byes went one-and-done.

"You look at this past year's (bracket): Miami goes to the finals, and just barely loses to Indiana - and they barely squeak into the playoffs," Brohm said. "Then you have a Notre Dame team that doesn't get in, that probably could have went a long way in the playoffs as well. I think for every team to have an opportunity to make it is exciting for fans across the country. I see us getting to that at some point."

Brohm is far from the only coach who has voiced support of expanded the CFP, and specifically to a 24-team field. In fact, late last month, the 16 head coaches in the Big 12 unanimously supported a move to expand to 24 teams.

While the coaches might be in favor of expanding the tournament, the players are not quite as sold on the idea.

"I feel like 12 is enough," UofL linebacker Stanquan Clark said Monday. "24 would be too many."

There might be 12 games in college football's regular season, but if you have a deep postseason run on your mind, there's a chance that you could add nearly half a season's worth of games onto your total schedule. As part of their undefeated run to win the 2025 national championship, Indiana played 16 total games: the regular season, the Big Ten Championship, and three CFP Games. And that came with having earned a first round bye, so theoretically, in the current setup, it's possible for a team to play as many as 17 games.

What would that number be in a 24-team playoff? While the exact bracket has yet to be unveiled, in your standard 24-team single elimination tournament, a team that does not earn a first round bye will have to play five games if they want to make it all the way to the final. Add in the regular season and the conference championship, and the maximum amount of possible games played would at 18.

In a sport as physically demanding and grueling as football is, having the college players potentially play as many games as the pros do in the NFL is something that is a concern.

"If you go to 24 teams, that'll be a 17- or 18- game season. It might as well be the NFL at that point," UofL offensive lineman Lance Robinson said.

The toll is takes on the bodies of the student athletes is just one of the issues facing potential expansion to 24 teams. For starters, it would force the CFP to start at a much earlier time, further cluttering the month of December - and risking losing TV viewership numbers to the NFL. There has even been talk of getting rid of conference championship games so that there can be room to include the games that would come with an expanded field.

Expansion is coming, that much is certain. Getting every on the same page, whether that is coaches and players or administration/athletic directors and television executives, is another.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for the latest news.

More Cardinals Stories