Nick Saban Reveals His Biggest Fear With 24-Team College Football Playoff

Most fans don’t want the College Football Playoff to expand to 24 teams, but it appears to be happening anyway, with new reports indicating the CFP could introduce an expanded model as soon as 2027.

Legendary former college football coach Nick Saban joined "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday and shared his biggest concern about a 24-team CFP.

"My only concern about the 24-team College Football Playoff is the amount of games these guys are playing," Saban said. "We played 15 games three of four times, and that was a lot of games for college players. Now we’re talking about in a 24-team playoff, you could play five more games, and the 12 games, and what happens to championship games and how we eliminate those. I just get a little concerned about how much is too much when it comes to how many games a college player plays."

"I think 16 would be a good compromise. I would be for keeping conference championship games as maybe a play-in to the 16, which now you’d have 20 teams that have hope. But I don’t think there’s much support for that," Saban added.

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The proposed format would give more programs a chance to compete for a national championship, including teams that might otherwise miss out because of a few losses or a difficult schedule. One reported model would include an automatic bid for the Group of Six champion, with the other 23 spots decided by the selection committee.

Still, the idea has drawn plenty of criticism. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has favored a smaller, 16-team playoff, similar to what Saban suggested, and has argued against jumping straight from 12 teams to 24. The fear is that a bigger field could make regular-season games less meaningful, create more mismatches and increase the physical toll on players.

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There are financial considerations as well. More playoff games mean more broadcast revenue, but the expanded schedule could threaten conference championship games and create calendar conflicts.

Ultimately, the CFP needs to find the right balance between giving more teams a fair shot and preserving what makes college football so special.