Florida fans should not buy what the ACC and Big 12 are selling

One of the downfalls of the Billy Napier Era was the fact that Florida couldn’t even sniff the postseason even with expanded playoffs. As we have pointed out before, Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, and Dan Mullen all would have made the playoffs at least once during their time in Gainesville had there been expanded playoffs at the time.

So while there are still some warts with the 12-team format, it still isn’t an automatic invite to the postseason, and one still has to have a respectable season to still be dancing in December. Leaders from the ACC and Big 12, tired of constantly being left out of the party, are pushing for a proposal that Florida fans are going to want no part of.

ACC and Big 12 push for a 24-team playoff

At their spring meetings this week, both conference commissioners have reiterated their desire for college football to move towards a 24-team playoff. Just like college basketball’s initiative to expand its own tournament, it’s clear that the powers that be don’t have the overall health and foundation of the sport in mind; they just see the dollar signs of more playoff games.

The ACC and Big 12 want expanded playoffs because it’s the only way they can guarantee a pathway to get multiple teams into the postseason. FSU coach Mike Norvell said he backs a plan that would give all Power Four conferences three automatic bids. In the ACC, that would have put both Duke and Virginia into the playoffs in 2025. But coincidentally, this expanded playoffs would have knocked out James Madison.

The way the format is set up now, with 12 teams, a squad still has to go 10-2 just to be in the picture. Even then, as Notre Dame, BYU, Utah, and Vanderbilt found out, it’s no guarantee. 

With 24 teams, teams that go 8-4 could start getting invites. 

And if 8-4 teams are getting in, then how many regular-season games are going to start to lose their meaning?

Part of what made Florida’s wins over LSU and Ole Miss in 2024 memorable was that it knocked both teams out of playoff contention. Likewise, Florida’s win over Texas this past season is what kept the Longhorns from dancing.

But if those games just turn into bumps in the road that don’t matter, then what’s the point?

We get it, Notre Dame threw a hissy fit because they got left out. The entire point of the playoffs is to crown the best team in the country and to make sure that anyone who has a legitimate claim to being the national champion is invited.

If you lose two games in a season, then you do not have a claim as to being the best team in the country. You might get hot in the playoffs like Miami does, but but that doesn’t mean you were the best team from September to November.

Because if we expand the playoffs to invite everyone, then it isn’t going to feel special when Florida does right the ship and makes the dance in the future.

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