While some may entirely oppose the possibility of a College Football Playoff expansion, ESPN's Heather Dinich reported that the commissioners from each Power Four conference met to discuss doubling the beloved playoff.
For a program like Louisville, which has been rising each year under Jeff Brohm, the expansion of the playoffs to 24 teams would benefit them. Since Brohm has arrived in Louisville, the program has continued to trend in the right direction, despite the Cards' two-game losing streak. With the playoffs expanding, Louisville football would have to be ranked in the top 20 to secure a spot, and with Brohm earning a contract extension, that shouldn't be that hard to do.
The College Football Playoff could see another major expansion.
College Football continues to make changes, as the first playoffs were back in 2015, when the league went from the BCS Bowl to a four-team playoff format. From there, the College Football Playoffs underwent a massive change this past season, with the committee expanding from four to 12 teams. And now, Dinich reports that the committee recently met to expand to 24 and will meet again in the coming weeks to discuss this topic further.
"The Power 4 commissioners met in CLT on Monday and talked about the Big Ten’s idea of a 24-team playoff field, but no changes to the current format are expected in 2026, multiple sources told ESPN. One CFP source said the 24-team idea “has some merit,” but there’s “a lot of work that needs to be done” and more meetings are expected in the coming weeks. The Big Ten and SEC have the bulk of control over the future format. Each P4 director of football also attended the Monday meeting."Heather Dinich
The CFP 12 team format expires after this season, but Dinich does report that they don't expect any change to the format for the 2026 playoffs. Many fans are strongly opposed to the expansion, as it cheapens the task of making the College Football Playoffs at all.
Louisville was ranked No. 15 for the first playoff rankings and No. 20 in the second. While the Cardinals did collapse and lost two straight games, with the expansion, Brohm would have this program regularly in the playoff mix. The Cardinals made the ACC Championship game in 2023, finished with 10 wins, and would have been right in the mix for the playoffs that season. Last year and this year, Louisville has been around the top 25 throughout the entire season and, once again, would have been in the conversation if the playoffs had included 24 teams.
So, whether fans agree with the expansion or not, for Louisville, Brohm has proved he can have the Cardinals compete in the ACC, and with a possible 24-team playoff format, the Cardinals would be a team immediately in the mix every season.