You know what? I’m starting to think the people running college football have officially lost the plot.
According to ESPN, the Big Ten has floated the idea of blowing up the College Football Playoff into a 24- or even 28-team monstrosity. The plan—still in its infancy, thankfully—would scrap conference title games and hand out automatic bids like candy, with heavy favoritism toward the power leagues.
In one version, the SEC and Big Ten each get seven automatic bids, while the ACC and Big 12 receive five apiece. The scraps? Two bids for the non-Power Four conferences and two at-larges. That’s it.
Picture this: seven Big Ten teams in a playoff bracket, as if half the conference is secretly loaded with national-title contenders just waiting to be unleashed. The mental gymnastics required to justify that setup is staggering. It’s not strategy—it’s Stockholm Syndrome with shoulder pads. What we’re actually seeing is money fever: a relentless sprint past “plausible” into “absurd” at ludicrous speed.
Imagine every league office has a giant button labeled MONEY. Now picture 50 guys pounding it in unison, hoping free cash falls from the ceiling. That’s the energy here.
I understand the leaks are just trial balloons, a way to measure public tolerance for greed. But come on. Nobody who genuinely cares about college football thinks a fair playoff excludes auto-bids for every conference. That’s the insult at the core of this whole thing—the sport is now run by people who don’t actually like it.
And then there’s the player-safety hypocrisy. Cut title games? Sure—because the real solution is asking unpaid athletes to play 16 games to win a championship, all while making solemn noises about “health and wellness.” Don’t worry, though—corporate partners are ready to cash in.
In fact, the whole thing is starting to look like a front for Dr. Pepper. Maybe the true endgame is a 64-person Halftime Football Chest Pass Tournament. The dots are connecting.
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