24 Team Playoff

Hurricane88 · 2026-10-15T13:36:52-0500

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/college-football-playoff-reportedly-near-deal-to-expand-to-24-teams-in-2027-174805098.html

According to multiple sources they are very close to closing the deal for a 24 team playoff next season.

What are my fellow Hawk fans thoughts on this?

I'm conflicted. On one end, the Hawkeyes will be much more likely to make the playoff in the new format. But, it will also allow the SEC to send 60% of their conference every year. I'm also a fan of the traditional bowls. I miss seeing the PAC and B1G battling for the Rose Bowl.

Proposed Format & Rules (Under Discussion)

Field Size & Qualification: A 24-team field featuring 19 at-large bids, Power 4 conference champions, and the top-ranked Group of 6 team, though other preliminary models have also been explored.
Structure & Schedule: Traditional Power 4 conference championship games may be eliminated. The regular season could start a week earlier and end by Thanksgiving, while the Army-Navy game might move to the first Saturday in December.
Playoff Venues: Early rounds would be hosted on campus, quarterfinals and semifinals would use the New Year's Six bowls, and the title game remains in January.
Broadcast Rights: An agreement with ESPN is being finalized to carry these expanded games through 2031.

HawkAlum2002 · 2026-10-15T13:48:53-0500

Best possible solution with unbalanced conference schedules playing such a big role nowadays. And getting rid of the conference title games helps as well, punishing a team losing in that while teams that didn't make it save an extra loss has always been unfair in the playoff era. 10 win teams can usually be in comfortably and 9-3 teams that played a tougher schedule also get rewarded. I wouldn't mind the 9-24 games being the first 8 bowl games though so neither team gets home field as to actually reward teams 1-8 a bit more.

Hawkedup · 2026-10-15T13:59:39-0500

More football is always I good thing I guess but it will be a watered down version. We already saw that last year.

DukeSlater · 2026-10-15T14:07:56-0500

The playoff system may not be the best postseason for major college football, but it's what we have now because powerful people wanted to crown a "real" national champion as opposed to voting for one based on bowl results. So here we are, for better or, most likely, for worse. But since we now have the playoff system that--if you recall, began as a 2-team affair--then 24 teams is the appropriate number.

That would bring major college football in line with all other divisions, including division III, in terms of the percentage of teams who make the playoffs.

At the height of bowl game popularity, the postseason was pretty exciting. And since there's no legitimate way to determine who the best team is really is, that format was fine. Sure, there were valid disagreements over who should be voted national champion, but the playoffs haven't stopped that speculation. Some people will still contend that such-and-such a team was really the best, and they will make excuses for why that great team failed to win the title on the field. Controversy is part of sports, and no playoff will ever end it.

But since this is where we are, yes, 24 teams should have the opportunity. The more playoff games hosted on campus, the better. The less time between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs, the better. And good riddance to conference "championship" games, another misnomer.

HawkAlum2002 · 2026-10-15T14:18:56-0500

Hawkedup said:
More football is always I good thing I guess but it will be a watered down version. We already saw that last year.

The ten seed that many thought stole the spot from Notre Dame made the title game, I don't think that can be considered watered down. Yes, the 11 and 12 seed both got smoked, but they would be the 23 and 24 seed now (or close) which is way more fair to the P4 teams that were actually better than them last year but got left out.

Hurricane88 · 2026-10-15T14:18:59-0500

DukeSlater said:
The playoff system may not be the best postseason for major college football, but it's what we have now because powerful people wanted to crown a "real" national champion as opposed to voting for one based on bowl results. So here we are, for better or, most likely, for worse. But since we now have the playoff system that--if you recall, began as a 2-team affair--then 24 teams is the appropriate number.

That would bring major college football in line with all other divisions, including division III, in terms of the percentage of teams who make the playoffs.

At the height of bowl game popularity, the postseason was pretty exciting. And since there's no legitimate way to determine who the best team is really is, that format was fine. Sure, there were valid disagreements over who should be voted national champion, but the playoffs haven't stopped that speculation. Some people will still contend that such-and-such a team was really the best, and they will make excuses for why that great team failed to win the title on the field. Controversy is part of sports, and no playoff will ever end it.

But since this is where we are, yes, 24 teams should have the opportunity. The more playoff games hosted on campus, the better. The less time between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs, the better. And good riddance to conference "championship" games, another misnomer.

I personally like 16 teams in the playoff. But, anything is better than the BCS. Even though, with the advent of AI and other super computers, I bet they could make an unbiased computer model to select the 16 teams instead of having a potentially biased committee.

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-15T14:26:01-0500

Hurricane88 said:
I personally like 16 teams in the playoff. But, anything is better than the BCS. Even though, with the advent of AI and other super computers, I bet they could make an unbiased computer model to select the 16 teams instead of having a potentially biased committee.

Not sure how a computer model would do much better than an eye test. I do agree with the 16 though. I can't say I'm a fan of byes when it comes to a tournament style playoff.

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-15T14:27:49-0500

I think this was set in stone when they moved the season to week zero this year. I'll be curious to see what happens to conference championship games in the future. There is almost no reason to have them moving forward.

Hurricane88 · 2026-10-15T14:48:48-0500

squeezebox_1 said:
I think this was set in stone when they moved the season to week zero this year. I'll be curious to see what happens to conference championship games in the future. There is almost no reason to have them moving forward.

As stated above, there will be no CCG going forward. It also wasn't set in stone. There was a lot of back and forth between the SEC and ESPN to get it done. I think the B1G was against it at first.

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-15T15:00:39-0500

Hurricane88 said:
As stated above, there will be no CCG going forward. It also wasn't set in stone. There was a lot of back and forth between the SEC and ESPN to get it done. I think the B1G was against it at first.

Na, it was pretty well established this was going to happen, the tie breakers for who claims the conference championship are going to be nuts.

ChicagoHawk2020 · 2026-10-15T15:10:02-0500

I don’t understand how any Iowa fan would be against this. It gives actual meaning to the end of the season instead of playing in a second rate bowl game for the millionth time.

Jonesy5960 · 2026-10-15T15:26:07-0500

Hurricane88 said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/college-football-playoff-reportedly-near-deal-to-expand-to-24-teams-in-2027-174805098.html

According to multiple sources they are very close to closing the deal for a 24 team playoff next season.

What are my fellow Hawk fans thoughts on this?

I'm conflicted. On one end, the Hawkeyes will be much more likely to make the playoff in the new format. But, it will also allow the SEC to send 60% of their conference every year. I'm also a fan of the traditional bowls. I miss seeing the PAC and B1G battling for the Rose Bowl.

Proposed Format & Rules (Under Discussion)

Field Size & Qualification: A 24-team field featuring 19 at-large bids, Power 4 conference champions, and the top-ranked Group of 6 team, though other preliminary models have also been explored.

Structure & Schedule: Traditional Power 4 conference championship games may be eliminated. The regular season could start a week earlier and end by Thanksgiving, while the Army-Navy game might move to the first Saturday in December.

Playoff Venues: Early rounds would be hosted on campus, quarterfinals and semifinals would use the New Year's Six bowls, and the title game remains in January.

Broadcast Rights: An agreement with ESPN is being finalized to carry these expanded games through 2031.

Any bowl game that isn't part of the CFP has become somewhat meaningless with all of the opt-outs. I'd prefer that more bowls are incorporated into the cfp as opposed to schools hosting games.

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-15T15:32:52-0500

Jonesy5960 said:
Any bowl game that isn't part of the CFP has become somewhat meaningless with all of the opt-outs. I'd prefer that more bowls are incorporated into the cfp as opposed to schools hosting games.

agreed, but the only issue with that would be that most would be defacto home games for teams in the south. 25 of 47 current bowl games are in a state with an SEC school located in them. Compared to 3 for big ten schools if you count Rutgers are NY.

Fight4Iowa · 2026-10-15T15:41:43-0500

I think with NIL, there's going to be a lot more parity moving forward in college football. It'll provide a number of great matchups each year and should expand the opportunity for home playoff games. I just want a home playoff game before the Ferentz era comes to a close.

SEC @ Kinnick on a cold, early December evening would be magnificent. Much more of an NFL feel.

Jonesy5960 · 2026-10-15T15:53:13-0500

squeezebox_1 said:
agreed, but the only issue with that would be that most would be defacto home games for teams in the south. 25 of 47 current bowl games are in a state with an SEC school located in them. Compared to 3 for big ten schools if you count Rutgers are NY.

Simply playing a game in the south doesn't automatically confer a significant home field advantage. Some intentionality in terms of placement can keep Texas teams out of Texas and Florida teams out of Florida and equitable ticket allotments can assure each team of a fair number of fans. It's certainly fairer than playing a first round game at your opponent's home stadium and if the idea is for the best team to win then a neutral field presents the greatest opportunity. Besides, they already do this for the quarter and semifinals. In men's basketball they keep specific locations as neutral as possible while allowing for regional preferences for top seeded teams.

Hawkmanic23 · 2026-10-15T16:39:22-0500

squeezebox_1 said:
I think this was set in stone when they moved the season to week zero this year. I'll be curious to see what happens to conference championship games in the future. There is almost no reason to have them moving forward.

Conference championship games will be non-existent when the CFP expands to either 16 or 24 teams.

Palmerhawk · 2026-10-15T17:08:04-0500

Jonesy5960 said:
Simply playing a game in the south doesn't automatically confer a significant home field advantage. Some intentionality in terms of placement can keep Texas teams out of Texas and Florida teams out of Florida and equitable ticket allotments can assure each team of a fair number of fans. It's certainly fairer than playing a first round game at your opponent's home stadium and if the idea is for the best team to win then a neutral field presents the greatest opportunity. Besides, they already do this for the quarter and semifinals. In men's basketball they keep specific locations as neutral as possible while allowing for regional preferences for top seeded teams.

I think attendance could be an issue if they don't stick to home venues.
How many fans could afford to go on the road 4 straight weekends?
And for the fans of perennial contenders doing it year after year?

The bowls will still fill holiday week nites with BIG teams that will draw eyeballs,including mine.

Tough deal for the uni's of the world as those money games will be reduced.
Tv ratings were down in Sept due to those money blowouts...this should eliminate some of those,altho at Iowa with ISU, our 10 power 4 game obligation is already met.

oldxbbc · 2026-10-15T17:12:14-0500

Another week off college football, I am for it. But I wonder if some potential high draft guys will play?

Jonesy5960 · 2026-10-15T17:22:06-0500

Palmerhawk said:
I think attendance could be an issue if they don't stick to home venues.
How many fans could afford to go on the road 4 straight weekends?
And for the fans of perennial contenders doing it year after year?

The bowls will still fill holiday week nites with BIG teams that will draw eyeballs,including mine.

Tough deal for the uni's of the world as those money games will be reduced.
Tv ratings were down in Sept due to those money blowouts...this should eliminate some of those,altho at Iowa with ISU, our 10 power 4 game obligation is already met.

I don't know. The bowl games with CFP tie ins are/will be so much better attended than the ones that aren't and each win results in greater fan excitement, just as it does in basketball. The CFP expansion is going to happen, and any bowl that's not tied in somehow is going to die IMO. There just won't be enough juice left as players and teams continue to opt out with increasing frequency.

Jonesy5960 · 2026-10-15T17:23:00-0500

oldxbbc said:
Another week off college football, I am for it. But I wonder if some potential high draft guys will play?

Virtually everyone will play as long as it's meaningful.

QChawks · 2026-10-15T17:36:39-0500

ChicagoHawk2020 said:
I don’t understand how any Iowa fan would be against this. It gives actual meaning to the end of the season instead of playing in a second rate bowl game for the millionth time.

Don’t you dare speak of the music city bowl like that

Hurricane88 · 2026-10-15T17:50:04-0500

QChawks said:
Don’t you dare speak of the music city bowl like that

I'm not against a larger playoff, at all. I just despise corporate greed and how it has taken over CFB and changed the traditions. Maybe I'm old and afraid of change.

Passing Is For COMMIES · 2026-10-16T08:26:32-0500

Hawkedup said:
More football is always I good thing I guess but it will be a watered down version. We already saw that last year.

I somewhat agree, but would you rather watch an Illinois vs Tennessee game in the first round of a 24 team playoff, or in the Reliaquest bowl where 15 total starters are sitting out.

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-16T08:47:57-0500

Not out to derail the thread, but man Iowa could have made a run last year with the way they were playing if it was a 24 team playoff last year.

Iron Doc · 2026-10-16T09:02:40-0500

Hurricane88 said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/college-football-playoff-reportedly-near-deal-to-expand-to-24-teams-in-2027-174805098.html

According to multiple sources they are very close to closing the deal for a 24 team playoff next season.

What are my fellow Hawk fans thoughts on this?

I'm conflicted. On one end, the Hawkeyes will be much more likely to make the playoff in the new format. But, it will also allow the SEC to send 60% of their conference every year. I'm also a fan of the traditional bowls. I miss seeing the PAC and B1G battling for the Rose Bowl.

Proposed Format & Rules (Under Discussion)

Field Size & Qualification: A 24-team field featuring 19 at-large bids, Power 4 conference champions, and the top-ranked Group of 6 team, though other preliminary models have also been explored.

Structure & Schedule: Traditional Power 4 conference championship games may be eliminated. The regular season could start a week earlier and end by Thanksgiving, while the Army-Navy game might move to the first Saturday in December.

Playoff Venues: Early rounds would be hosted on campus, quarterfinals and semifinals would use the New Year's Six bowls, and the title game remains in January.

Broadcast Rights: An agreement with ESPN is being finalized to carry these expanded games through 2031.

24 is long overdue.

gojojo · 2026-10-16T09:03:19-0500

The first round games, on campus, will be great for college football.

How awesome will it be to get an SEC team travel to Kinnick on a 40 degree Saturday in December?

Home games bring an estimated $23 million to the community. This is great news for college football.

HawksRule25 · 2026-10-16T10:29:24-0500

Hurricane88 said:
I'm not against a larger playoff, at all. I just despise corporate greed and how it has taken over CFB and changed the traditions. Maybe I'm old and afraid of change.

I understand the sentiment.

Do you know how many teams make the playoffs in the other levels of NCAA football? Extra games, injuries, and missed classes do not matter at the other levels. Why do we care at the division I level?

that’s my 2 cents.

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-16T10:49:52-0500

It is strange to think about brackets like this. I would much rather be the 24th ranked team matching up against ole miss with a potential second round matchup against BYU, than where Iowa plays MSU followed by a potential matchup against Georgia.

Max Rebo · 2026-10-16T11:54:36-0500

squeezebox_1 said:
It is strange to think about brackets like this. I would much rather be the 24th ranked team matching up against ole miss with a potential second round matchup against BYU, than where Iowa plays MSU followed by a potential matchup against Georgia.

Yeah, it's kind of the same thing you see in the NCAA basketball tournament, when it's often more desirable to be a 10 or 11 seed than an 8 or a 9.

Burghawk87 · 2026-10-16T12:24:16-0500

squeezebox_1 said:
It is strange to think about brackets like this. I would much rather be the 24th ranked team matching up against ole miss with a potential second round matchup against BYU, than where Iowa plays MSU followed by a potential matchup against Georgia.

Why don't they just reseed it after the first round is complete? 1 plays lowest remaining team and so on. It's not like it makes a difference since every first round winner would have to make travel accommodations after their game anyway.

LetsGoHawks83 · 2026-10-16T13:00:03-0500

squeezebox_1 said:
Na, it was pretty well established this was going to happen, the tie breakers for who claims the conference championship are going to be nuts.

It already was this year, but especially going forward.... It'll be WAY harder to win the B1G that it will be to make the playoffs.

Wonder if they create a bunch of tiebreakers to determine ONE conference champion or have co-champs as an option

Lionhawk85 · 2026-10-16T13:31:28-0500

I think it’s overdue. Part of it also pizzes me off bc the hawks would have made the playoff many times had the 24 team format been in play since the end of the BCS era.

RuggieC · 2026-10-16T13:38:40-0500

I don't have a vote but I would rather see a 16 team field with nobody having a week off. I do think we will see a few more injuries here and there, and some players potentially sitting out. Under KF if the 24 team scenario was in place then his teams make it in 11 times before this season.

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-16T13:43:09-0500

Burghawk87 said:
Why don't they just reseed it after the first round is complete? 1 plays lowest remaining team and so on. It's not like it makes a difference since every first round winner would have to make travel accommodations after their game anyway.

This does make a lot more sense. I guarantee they don't have that much foresight..lol

squeezebox_1 · 2026-10-16T13:45:15-0500

RuggieC said:
I don't have a vote but I would rather see a 16 team field with nobody having a week off. I do think we will see a few more injuries here and there, and some players potentially sitting out. Under KF if the 24 team scenario was in place then his teams make it in 11 times before this season.

Why would a player sit out? It doesn't add any more games to the season, in fact it lowers the number of games played by 1 for the top qualifiers when you get rid of CCG.

Hurricane88 · 2026-10-16T14:01:21-0500

squeezebox_1 said:
It is strange to think about brackets like this. I would much rather be the 24th ranked team matching up against ole miss with a potential second round matchup against BYU, than where Iowa plays MSU followed by a potential matchup against Georgia.

This is what last year would have looked like. A 8-4 Iowa team would've made it in.

Which is crazy and would most likely happen again -with other teams- down the road with 24 teams being in the new playoff. It will be something to get used to I guess. 24 out of 138 teams make it in, which seems fair.

uihawk82 · 2026-10-16T14:19:32-0500

Hurricane88 said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/college-football-playoff-reportedly-near-deal-to-expand-to-24-teams-in-2027-174805098.html

According to multiple sources they are very close to closing the deal for a 24 team playoff next season.

What are my fellow Hawk fans thoughts on this?

I'm conflicted. On one end, the Hawkeyes will be much more likely to make the playoff in the new format. But, it will also allow the SEC to send 60% of their conference every year. I'm also a fan of the traditional bowls. I miss seeing the PAC and B1G battling for the Rose Bowl.

Proposed Format & Rules (Under Discussion)

Field Size & Qualification: A 24-team field featuring 19 at-large bids, Power 4 conference champions, and the top-ranked Group of 6 team, though other preliminary models have also been explored.

Structure & Schedule: Traditional Power 4 conference championship games may be eliminated. The regular season could start a week earlier and end by Thanksgiving, while the Army-Navy game might move to the first Saturday in December.

Playoff Venues: Early rounds would be hosted on campus, quarterfinals and semifinals would use the New Year's Six bowls, and the title game remains in January.

Broadcast Rights: An agreement with ESPN is being finalized to carry these expanded games through 2031.

A sixteen team playoff is better, more fair as each team playing that wins plays the same number of games. Those early matchups will have some pretty good high ranked teams that have to play an extra game all through the playoffs if they keep winning. If you cant find the very close to the top 16 teams you might as well quit and go back to all bowl game.

Would you like to be the highest ranked team to have to play in the first round?

Plus, teams 17-24 have a very low chance of getting past the 2nd round, they might win a first round game in which they are a road team but then it is on the road again playing and even tougher team.

uihawk82 · 2026-10-16T14:23:09-0500

Hawkmanic23 said:
Conference championship games will be non-existent when the CFP expands to either 16 or 24 teams.

Not necessarily if expanded to 16 teams because a 12 team and 16 team format is the same number of rounds or weekends of game. With either format after the first week you are down to 8 teams remaining. It is the 24 team format that adds and extra week therefore pushing the league Championship games to the dust bin.

Hurricane88 · 2026-10-16T15:46:59-0500

uihawk82 said:
Not necessarily if expanded to 16 teams because a 12 team and 16 team format is the same number of rounds or weekends of game. With either format after the first week you are down to 8 teams remaining. It is the 24 team format that adds and extra week therefore pushing the league Championship games to the dust bin.

16 games also allows the top 4 seeds to not be given a first round bye. It's a good number to be at. Keeping CCG in place and possibly allowing another G6 team in the mix in some years without watering down the competition level like a 24 team playoff will.

24 Team Playoff

Sophomore

All-Conference

All-American

All-American

All-Conference

Sophomore

All-Conference

All-Conference

Sophomore

All-Conference

All-Conference

Heisman

All-Conference

Senior

Heisman

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-American

Heisman

Heisman

Heisman

Sophomore

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-American

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-American

Senior

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

Sophomore

All-Conference

All-Conference

Sophomore