Backing the Pack says playoff expansion could bring 24 teams

The College Football Playoff is likely to expand to 24 teams beginning next season, according to Backing the Pack. The outlet outlines a change that would alter the calendar and the route teams take into the playoff, while describing the prospect in critical terms.

The headline from On the Banks also says expansion is likely; Deseret News poses the question of whether fans want a 24-team field. Backing the Pack says the larger playoff would require the season to begin a week earlier, with Week 0 becoming Week 1.

The outlet presents this as a calendar change tied to expansion, rather than detailing a separate proposal or decision-making process. Its account does not specify who would approve the format or when a final decision would be made.

The outlet describes a proposed field composed of four power-league champions—or teams it calls “pseudo-champions”—alongside the best G6 team and 19 at-large selections. It argues that uneven schedules complicate the meaning of conference champions, and says the plan would remove conference championship games.

Those details are Backing the Pack’s account of the likely format, not a reported final bracket. Backing the Pack also criticizes what it sees as the quality and appeal of a larger field. It compares the proposed expansion to the NCAA basketball tournament, which it characterizes as including many power-conference teams with little chance of winning the title.

The outlet questions whether viewers would be drawn to a matchup between 7-3 Auburn and Florida teams. That example is posed as a question; the article does not provide audience figures or evidence about how viewers would respond. The article further argues that expansion would damage the remaining quality bowl games outside the playoff.

It does not identify specific bowls or quantify the effect. Its headline centers the money behind the expansion and says some would not consider it a “win,” but the article excerpt does not give a dollar amount or explain the financial arrangements.

Other headlines frame the topic differently without adding details about the proposal: wtsp.com presents the shakeup as a possible opportunity and source of hope for BYU football, while Deseret News asks whether fans want 24 teams. Those headlines do not establish how the proposed format would affect BYU or measure fan opinion.

The account therefore leaves the central questions at the level of an anticipated expansion, its stated structural changes and competing characterizations of its appeal.