Mike Elko gives his brutally honest opinion about expanding the College Football Playoff

Joel Klatt discusses the impact of a 24-Team College Football Playoff and what that could mean for potential SEC and Big Ten Matchups.

The College Football Playoff has been a resounding success in some areas, and a frustrating example of the modern sport in others.

Instead of decades of debate over which team with a similar record had the better résumé and bowl win, there's now a definitive national champion. But for a sport with more than 130 teams, finding the right balance of allowing more teams into the tournament without diminishing the importance of the regular season has been difficult.

Four teams wasn't enough, which led to 12. And even with 12, there are disagreements over whether deserving programs were excluded. Like last year's Notre Dame Fighting Irish team being left out in favor of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Ty Simpson of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the football against the Indiana Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1, 2026. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

As a result, this offseason has been dominated by talk of further expansion. Some schools and conferences, particularly the SEC, favor a 16-team field. The Big Ten, by contrast, has been successfully whipping up support for its 24-team proposal.

CFP, NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPANSION BOTH DRAW BACKLASH, BUT ONE IS DEFINITIVELY WORSE THAN THE OTHER

There are pros, well, maybe, a pro, to a 24-team field, and many, many cons. Including devaluing rivalry games, limiting the importance of big regular-season matchups and risking the further degradation of non-conference schedules.

But what do the coaches think about more teams making it? Well, at this year's SEC Spring Meetings in Florida, Texas