Notre Dame's athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, is on board with a 24-team College Football Playoff (CFP), believing it to be the best path forward for the sport. This shift in perspective comes after Bevacqua previously advocated for a 16-team field. The potential expansion is seen as a way to give more teams hope and elevate the regular season, which could be crucial for maintaining a competitive football schedule and satisfying media partners and fans.
Bevacqua argues that a 24-team field would work best with at-large bids, with five slots reserved for the four Power 4 conference champions and the highest-rated Group of 6 champion. This structure would allow for more teams to have a chance at the CFP, which is particularly important for universities investing heavily in football. He also acknowledges the revenue issues of dropping conference championship games, but believes the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
The Irish have already made the CFP twice under head coach Brian Kelly and are a potential preseason No. 1 heading into this fall. With a guaranteed bid if they finish in the top 12 of the final CFP rankings, Notre Dame is poised to be part of the handful of teams that can give it a legitimate go year after year. However, the return of the Notre Dame-USC series, which had been a century-long tradition, is uncertain due to the Trojans' strength of schedule concerns since moving to the Big Ten.
Bevacqua sees CFP expansion as a way to quiet college coaches' saber-rattling about canceling marquee nonconference games. He believes that if expansion makes regular-season losses less punitive, more programs would be willing to take on bigger games, which would be critical to maintaining a football schedule good enough to get into the CFP. However, the final say on when and how the postseason format changes will be up to the Big Ten and SEC.
In my opinion, Bevacqua's support for a 24-team CFP is a strategic move to ensure Notre Dame's football program remains competitive and relevant. While there are revenue and scheduling concerns, the benefits of giving more teams hope and elevating the regular season could be transformative for the sport. It's a bold move that could shape the future of college football, and I'm intrigued to see how it plays out.
