Some college football fans may not like the idea of a 24-team playoff, but the FCS has done this for years. Why does it have to be limited to them? It could give Iowa and many other underdog programs a shot.
Every time I watch the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a thought always pops in my head.
Why can't college football do something like this?
The answer this question is pretty obvious. College football does actually have a true March Madness-esque postseason, it's just at the wrong level - the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
I don't watch FCS football very often, but when I do tune in, it's during the postseason.
While major college football has struggled to declare a national champion throughout its entire existence - through final polls, the Bowl Alliance, the BCS, and now the College Football Playoff - the FCS has always done things right.
It does help that the FCS is the highest level of NCAA-sanctioned football, so it has more structure than the FBS, but either way, the format it uses is perfect.
The 24-team field is split like this:
Top eight seeds receive a first round bye.
Seeds 9-16 will host a first round game.
Remaining teams are unseeded and have to win road games to advance through the tournament.
This system would be amazing for the FBS. Instead of stirring controversy every year with the 12-team College Football Playoff, why not just expand it to a similar version and keep the cash cows (bowl games) in a 24-team event?
College athletics brings in too much money for this not to likely happen in the near future, but some of the sport's most loyal fans are unhappy with this discussion. They argue that expanding to 24 teams would add more mediocre teams to the field, which has been an issue through two years of the 12-team format.
Iowa football fans should welcome this potential change with open arms. The Hawkeyes have been knocking at the door of the CFP for many years now, and their consistent eight or nine win campaigns would almost certainly make Iowa a frequent playoff team.
Though the top seeds are likely going to win 99 out of 100 times, why not give more teams a chance? That's the beauty of the NCAA basketball tournament. No matter how big the matchup is on paper or what the oddsmakers say, every team has a chance.
A 24th-seeded Hawkeye team wouldn't be favored to win a game in this format, but it's not like the FCS playoffs haven't seen wild runs in the past. Since the tournament expanded to 24 teams in 2013, two unseeded teams have made a run to the national championship game - Youngstown State in 2016, and Illinois State last season.
Iowa is known for giving ranked teams all it can handle, and who knows what it could do if it is given a chance to crash the playoff party.
Are there flaws with a 24-team CFP? Absolutely. It's never going to be perfect, especially since bowl games prevent hosting more games on neutral sites, but if this is the direction college football is going to go, it's time to embrace it.
We all love March Madness, so let's have the football version.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]
