College Football Playoff, NCAA tournament expansions have officially gone too far

I imagine, at some point, folks bemoaned MLB expanding the playoffs from four teams to eight. I'm also guessing, for a decent amount of hoops fans, the NCAA tournament doubling its participants from 32 to 64 felt like too much.

I'll even admit that, way back when, I was against nixing the BCS in favor of the College Football Playoff for fear it would devalue the regular season. And yet, few would argue that all of aforementioned adjustments enhanced their respective sports.

So yes, change can be good. But there are limits. And right now - whether they've been implemented or are being discussed - such changes to college sports' two most watched postseasons have officially gone too far.

The big college football talking point over the past couple weeks is whether the game will expand its playoff format from 12 teams to 24. Remember, it was just two seasons ago when it made the leap from four teams to 12 - bypassing an eight-school postseason that many felt was the ideal number.

The reasoning was understandable. For one, a two-loss season wouldn't automatically preclude a championship-caliber team from competing for a national title. Secondly, committees wouldn't be forced to pick between the one or two-loss juggernauts from power conferences and the undefeated underdogs from mid-majors. And third - it just seemed like a whole lot of fun.

The results have mostly justified it. Two years ago, a two-loss Ohio State team marched to a championship as an eight-seed, winning all four of its games by double digits. Last year, a two-loss Miami squad reached the title game as a 10-seed before falling to Indiana by six points.

Neither the Buckeyes nor the Hurricanes would have had a shot under the previous format. The only real issue was that most of the smaller conference teams - James Madison, Boise State, Tulane, SMU, etc. - were blown away like the Generals facing the Globetrotters. It's only been two years, though. Too small a sample size to give permanent pink slips to potential glass slippers.

But 24 teams? Oh, come on.

It's easy to see why coaches would get behind this - as those of the Big 12 showed unanimous support for that number recently. Making the playoff is often the benchmark for a coach keeping his job, and if you have double the opportunity to extend your contract, you're going to want to expand the playoffs. The question is: at what cost?

Joyous as March Madness is, it's made the regular season almost irrelevant to the average sports fan. The pageantry and ritualistic nature of college football might make the sport less susceptible to a midseason malaise, but wins on Saturday are supposed to be euphoric and losses devastating. If you score a victory in the Big Ten or SEC, how high can you get knowing you can still drop three or four more games and coast into the playoffs?

There's something to be said for earning your spot. The Masters is probably the most prestigious golf tournament in the world, even if it has the smallest field of the majors. The reason? Just getting there is half the achievement. The same should be true of college football.

Also, the idea that adding more teams will eliminate snubbing complaints is ridiculous. There will always be teams with grievances. One of the more comical fixes" in American sports history is when the NCAA - after decades of disputes from schools left out of the 64-team basketball tournament - decided "we'll add a 65th! That'll solve it!" Spoiler alert: It didn't.

Sixty-four was the perfect number for that tourney. Better than the current 68 - and certainly better than the 76 that we'll see in 2027. This is just diluting the product. How long before it goes to 100? Or 150, when that 15-19 Pepperdine squad is fuming that it got left out?

Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables put it best recently when discussing playoff expansion: "If you want to be in complete, total control, win your games.

That's it. Take care of what you need to between the lines, and you won't have to worry. That's the beauty of sports - the ultimate meritocracy.

Of course, money tends to trump merit in the entertainment world, and these expansions will likely generate a lot more revenue. As much as people have lamented NIL, conference realignment and the transfer portal, viewership in college football and basketball are at near record highs. So maybe in a few years, all these changes I'm decrying will be seen as a positive by the masses.

Not now, though. At this moment, expansion just feels excessive.

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