College Football Playoff news: Commish reveals expansion ‘consequence’

The College Football Playoff expansion war is raging on, as the big conferences in the sport push for a 24-team field despite some pushback. Of course, expanding to 24 teams would require conference championship games to be sacrificed, something that the SEC has been hesitant to agree to.

On top of that, there are some more drawbacks to the 24-team playoff that are perhaps being a bit overlooked at the moment. MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher spoke about another potential consequence of expanding the field to 24 teams, via Bryan Fischer and Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated.

“One of the unintended consequences of expansion of the playoff from four to 12 is the added pressure on teams at the upper end of the food chain,” Steinbrecher said. “If those schools don’t get in the playoff, too often that fan base looks at the season as a disaster. I’m not sure expanding further from 12 changes that. I’m not sure it’s the pressure valve some people think it will be.”

This theory of added pressure on some of the top teams has been proven in recent years with the amount of coaching changes at top programs. LSU fired Brian Kelly during the 2025 season as soon as it was apparent that the Tigers were not going to the CFP. Penn State also let go of James Franklin in 2025 in the middle of a disappointing season. This playoff-or-bust mentality now that the field is at 12 teams plays a big part in the way that coaches are perceived.

The 24-team playoff has still not been officially cemented in the future, and the format is remaining at 12 teams for at least this season as meetings and debates rage on this offseason about what the correct decision is. While there are certainly some benefits to consider, most of them from a financial perspective, Steinbrecher presents one of the many downsides that should be considered about going to an even larger field.