The 24-team College Football Playoff expansion is coming, and honestly, it feels like nobody actually wants it, least of all the massive personalities who literally broadcast the games for ESPN. On a wild segment of “College GameDay,” guys like Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Desmond Howard, and Pat McAfee all jumped into what this huge new format means for the sport. They all agree that college football tradition is solid, but every single one had major beefs with the expanded playoff. Some were just a little more polite about it than others, you know?
Kirk Herbstreit’s Nightmare: The Death of the Regular Season?
Kirk Herbstreit laid it out plain: his biggest worry is that the regular season, the heart and soul of college football, is gonna get diminished. Think about those insane late August, early September games. We get so hyped for them, and sure, the playoff is four months away, but those games *mattered*! Herbstreit said it himself, going from four to twelve teams made everyone wonder if the regular season still had that punch. Now we’re jumping from twelve to twenty-four? He’s terrified that those meaningful games we all live for, the ones that felt like “win: advance, lose: you’re out,” are just gonna lose their edge. Taking that feeling away? It just hurts, man. It really does.
Saban Fires Back as McAfee Tries to Find a Silver Lining
Pat McAfee, ever the optimist, tried to find some bright spots, but even his take was super tempered. He called out how fast all this change has happened, practically “dropped on everybody’s head,” and acknowledged that “a lot of college football purists … hate everything about this.” He sees some good in the “big games” coming from the 9+1 conference schedules, saying it’s “great for the sport as a whole.” But then he hit the downside: it’s “not necessarily great that everybody who loses, doesn’t matter anymore.”
Nick Saban though? He wasn’t holding back, and he kinda shot down McAfee’s whole 9+1 thing. Saban basically said, “Look, you don’t need a 24-team playoff for a 9+1 schedule.” He thinks conferences should have just done that on their own to get “more better games and people play a more equal schedule.” But his biggest concern? The sheer number of games these players are gonna have to grind through. He remembered playing 15 games a few times and thought that was already “too many.” Now, with this new format, players could be looking at “at least 17 maybe, which may be too many.” Seriously, last year, Indiana tied a 131-year old record with 16 wins in a season, matching Yale back in 1894. It’s hard to imagine anyone going undefeated in this new setup, but a new win record is definitely on the table. Saban finished by saying, “we’ve now lowered the bar to get in the playoffs, 24 teams. And we’re gonna raise the expectations of the fans to get in the game.” So, are we making it too easy to get in, but still setting fans up for disappointment? That’s a brutal question.
It feels like the entire college football world is holding its breath for this new playoff to kick off, trying to figure out if it’s a step forward or a huge misstep. Meanwhile, our very own Washington Huskies just kept rolling, beating Purdue 38-26. At least some things feel right on the field! What’s next for this college football mess? We’ll see how these teams navigate the chaos, and we’ll be watching every single snap, hoping the sport we love doesn’t get messed up too badly.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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