It appeared like a 24-team College Football Playoff was imminent, and news broke on Thursday revealing that it was. It appears the CFP will once again be expanded and that is going to take place next season. The 2027 college football season will feature yet another expanded playoff.
From four teams to 12 teams, the playoff continues to expand and with the new postseason going to 24 teams, that will likely get rid of all Conference Championship Games.
For nostalgic purposes, college football is going in the wrong direction and what made the sport so sacred — the regular season — continues to get watered down. Rivalry games, such as The Game between Michigan and Ohio State, will never mean the same anymore.
And for a program like Michigan, the Wolverines should never miss out on a 24-team CFP, right?
How many times would Michigan have made the playoff since 2014?
The playoff began in the 2014 season, moving away from the traditional BCS era. Let's assume the NCAA would've expanded to 24 teams right from the jump. Michigan would've made the playoff eight times since 2014 in a 24-team playoff.
- 2015: No. 14 in final College Football Playoff rankings
- 2016: No. 6
- 2018: No. 7
- 2019: No. 14
- 2021: No. 2
- 2022: No. 2
- 2023: No. 1
- 2025: No. 18
Which means the Wolverines would've missed four times. 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2024, Michigan would've been on the outside of the 24-team playoff.
Clearly an expanded playoff is no guarentee
There are programs out there that will feel like they will never miss a 24-team playoff. But that's not the reality. Programs like Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama, among others, should always have a seat at the table when the playoff continues to expand — so should Michigan.
The Wolverines are among the blue bloods of college football and are just three years removed from winning a national title. But as you can see from the data above, it's clearly possible for Michigan to miss a 24-team playoff.
And as things are shaping up this season, Michigan would be on the outside looking in this year. Sitting at 3-2, the Wolverines have dropped two games in a row and Michigan still has games against Indiana, Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State left.
In a 24-team playoff, you can be afforded three losses — maybe four — to get in. But as more parity forms in college football, along with the never-ending days of NIL, the landscape will continue to shift. Missing a 24-team playoff will only add to the pressure of coaching a high-major team.
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