Notre Dame news: Why AD is all in on 24-team CFP after initial 16-team push

The College Football Playoff is going to expand. The question has become whether or not it will be for 24-teams or 16-teams. The ACC seems to be getting on board with the idea of. 24-team playoff, with coaches such as Mike Norvell supporting the 24-team proposal.

Initially, Notre Dame was not on board with the 24-team model, with Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua initially supporting the 16-team model. Now, Bevacqua has changed his mind, according to Pete Sampson of The Athletic.

“I think in this day and age with what universities are investing in football, it’s a very expensive sport. You need to give more teams hope,” Bevacqua told The Athletic. “The way things are structured now, everything points to the CFP. It’s a measure of success. It’s important in the tenure of a coach. We’ve seen firings when teams aren’t going to make it to the CFP. And my concern is that if more teams aren’t given hope, that universities over the course of the next five, 10 years will say, ‘Hey, is the investment worth it?’ And I would hate to see a college football landscape where there’s only a handful of teams that can really give it a legitimate go year after year after year.”

Notre Dame is likely to be a benefactor of any expansion, with the team likely to get automatic berths if ranked inside a certain spot, such as the situation with the current 12-team playoff. Still, more playoff spots mean more teams can make the playoffs, giving the illusion of hope that they can win a national championship. If there is some hope, programs may decide to continue funding programs instead of deciding if it is worth the investment.

Ultimately, this could be good for Notre Dame, which could also use an extra non-competitive team on the schedule. They have Rice on the schedule in 2026, then Purdue in 2027 and 2028.

The College Football Playoff is going to expand. The question has become whether or not it will be for 24-teams or 16-teams. The ACC seems to be getting on board with the idea of. 24-team playoff, with coaches such as Mike Norvell supporting the 24-team proposal.