College Football Playoff Could Expand To 12 Teams By Friday

Breaking news reports Wednesday revealed that the College Football Playoff Board of Managers could authorize a 12-team playoff format as soon as Friday:

This apparently could take effect as soon as the 2024 season, and the '24 and '25 playoffs would be expanded.

This contradicts earlier reporting that the playoffs would not be expanding until 2026 at the earliest:

This proposal would seemingly adopt the framework first proposed by the playoff working group last year.

Several of the key takeaways would mean substantial changes to the current iteration:

An expanded College Football Playoff would provide smaller schools and conferences a better chance to make the dance (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The biggest change would be massive: tournament-style games played on home campuses. These would be incredibly desirable games both for hosting purposes and for television ratings.

Imagine, say, a College Football Playoff first-round matchup of the newly hatable USC Trojans against, say, Alabama down in Tuscaloosa. Or the Georgia Bulldogs heading up to Ann Arbor to face Jim Harbaugh and Michigan on a field covered in snow.

TV broadcasts have become the single-most important aspect of sports decision-making, and the benefits of expanded competitive matchups between presumably marquee opponents might be too tempting to pass up.

It would also allow more opportunities for surprising mid-major teams to get their chance at a title; programs like UCF have previously been denied an opportunity to compete against the Alabamas and Clemsons of the world. This would definitely change that.

With realignment, exploding NIL deals, and now potentially expanded playoffs, there's never been a more interesting time to be a college football fan.

Oh, and the season really kicks off this weekend. Buckle up.