Rich Clark wants a 'spectacular' CFP, but the 24-team format could be a spectacular flop

Sure, the new CFP will include more teams, and thus, more games. Some, however, felt that this shouldn't have come at the expense of conference championship games, many of which will be more memorable than these first-round matchups.

"I'm gonna miss conference championship games a lot," CBS Sports' Shehan Jeyarajah wrote while reacting to the news. "I'll say it right now, first-round games in the 24-team playoff will be substantially less entertaining."

Take the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game, for example. The Indiana Hoosiers beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 13-10 in a tight contest. Though it wasn't a high-scoring matchup, it produced plenty of drama, namely when QB Fernando Mendoza launched a 33-yard dime to wide receiver Charlie Becker on a 3rd-and-6 late in the fourth quarter. That throw was Mendoza's Heisman moment and made the Hoosiers "flippin' champs!" 

Starting in 2027, those future classics will be replaced by first-round matchups that don't feature two uber-elite teams. Eight of those squads will have first-round byes. 

Use last season's 24-team bracket as a reference. Would you have wanted to get your popcorn ready for a matchup between the Virginia Cavaliers and Vanderbilt Commodores?

"The better opportunity you have — we have — to make the playoffs, it's great," Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman told the media Monday. "I say that, but I also say I don't want this to be March Madness and have some 60 teams making the College Football Playoff."

But that's the problem. It seems like college football's trying to replicate March Madness, which sounds nice in theory but doesn't work in reality. Football's physicality prevents it from recreating the magic of the college basketball tournament. 

Clark says he's trying to create a "spectacular" CFP, but he could be creating a spectacular flop instead. Many around the sport oppose this change, and for good reason.