What playoff expansion means for Michigan Football

It was only a matter of time before the college football playoff expanded. The commissioners of each conference, board of governors, and athletic directors could delay as long as they wanted, but with conferences expanding, it only seemed logical to also expand the playoff.

The playoff is expanding to 12 teams according to ESPN, which means the top 12 teams in the country will get to play in the playoffs, starting in 2026.

Although the conference commissioners still need to iron out the details, like format and where the games will take place, the actual decision is set in stone.

It makes sense from a financial standpoint and a competitive standpoint. The NCAA is all about money and the same 2-3 teams every year in Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, etc have run their course.

With the expansion, more money is spread around, and even more eyes will be on the playoff. We might start to eventually see some upsets of top teams as more and more Cinderellas make the playoff.

As mentioned in Ross Dellenger’s tweet above, there is a possibility that the playoff could expand as early as 2024, and as late as 2026.

Looking at it from a logical standpoint, the best course of action would be to expand the playoff starting in 2024.

Texan and Oklahoma are leaving for the SEC in 2024 (and rumor has it they want to leave even sooner because of the new tv contract the BIG-12 is trying to sign) and the Big Ten has just expanded, adding USC and UCLA, in the last few months, subject to come to the BIG-10 in 2024.

Good for Michigan football

From a fan perspective, this is cool because, starting in a few years, Michigan football won’t need to be so perfect to make the playoff.

This adds more leniency with the playoff committee, and Michigan football can still make the playoff, even if they lose to Ohio State every year for the next 30 years (don’t want that to happen obviously, but it’s hypothetical).

The 12-team format will consist of the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams.

Baylor, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, etc having to play in the sold-out Big House at night (with a Maize Out or some other form of patterned crowd design) in the Michigan cold.

I was surprised that the committee decided to expand it to 12 teams and not 8, and not everyone that sees this article will like it and complain that there are too many teams, but they have to remember that this benefits the Wolverines just as much as any other team.

Now, the last thing we need to see is the finalized formatting and the locations of the playoff games.

This is what the bracket would’ve looked like last year had it been the 12-team format:

https://twitter.com/cfbonfox/status/1565783164219404289?s=21&t=HDj6-KhNlGckjBsfWdHTJg

All in all, great news on a Friday! Go Blue!