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When Ohio State reached the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game, it became the first team to navigate the 12-team CFP field to win a trophy.
Now, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day is welcoming the idea of competing in a field twice that size.
With the anticipation that the CFP will expand to include 24 teams, Day showed support of the idea.
“It’s great for college football for a lot of reasons,” he said, appearing on FOX Sports’ “The Herd With Colin Cowherd” on Friday. “More teams are involved and relevant. I think it’s great for fanbases, overall.”
The 24-team field would provide leeway to teams that stumble early in the season, potentially opening the door for three-loss teams to compete in the postseason. The counterpoint might be that it would diminish the competition of first-round matchups, but it would also incentivize scheduling better nonconference opponents.
For example, Ohio State and Texas played in consecutive seasons, splitting the series. In 2025, the Longhorns’ loss to the Buckeyes — before going on to lose twice in SEC play — was the difference between them qualifying for the 12-team CFP. If they had faced a less-competitive nonconference opponent early on, the Longhorns may have played deep into January.
The Buckeyes, who lost to Texas this season in Week 2, could experience that same fate. If Ohio State loses to Indiana this Saturday and suffers another loss in the regular season or the Big Ten championship game, a three-loss record could leave them out of the CFP field.
“The expansion allows all of us to play some of those nonconference games earlier in the year, which is good for the game,” Day said.
“Facing a great team early offers clarity to a coaching staff,” Cowherd emphasized in agreement. “That’s what you really want as a staff. It’s hard to get those winning by four touchdowns.”
A more competitive schedule could help teams be more polished as the year progresses and the games matter more. In addition, they’d have experience playing the caliber of opponent they’d be set to face in the CFP.
“The way things go now, your team is growing. We’re a different team than we were earlier in the season. Indiana’s a different team than they were earlier in the season. So as you continue to evolve — you know you want to be playing your best football at the end of the season,” Day said.
The CFP’s expansion to 24 teams now seems a matter of when not if. Day and the Buckeyes are getting ahead of that, embracing the challenges and opportunities it will bring.
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