As we enter the second season of the expanded College Football Playoff (CFP), Ohio State’s journey this year has exposed glaring flaws in the system that threaten the integrity and fairness of college football’s postseason. The Buckeyes, perennial contenders, have highlighted a fundamental issue with the new format—how an expanded playoff may prioritize inclusivity at the expense of true competitiveness and fairness. The rise of Ohio State’s journey through the new CFP structure has underscored several critical points about the new system’s shortcomings.
1. The Dangers of Rewarding Mediocrity
One of the central goals of the 12-team playoff was to allow more teams to compete for the national championship, ensuring that more fanbases and programs felt included. However, Ohio State’s 2025 journey through the CFP serves as a textbook case in how rewarding mediocrity can undermine the competitive nature of college football. Ohio State, despite a loss in a crucial game, managed to make the playoffs, a scenario where they were far from the best team on paper.
The inclusion of teams that lost key matchups, and were clearly inferior in some respects, raises serious questions about the fairness of an expanded system. In previous years, a one-loss or two-loss Ohio State team might have been left out of the playoff, but now, the door has been opened wider to teams that don’t have to prove they are truly elite. In effect, the expanded playoff devalues the regular season, rewarding teams for just being good enough, rather than elite, and that is troubling for a sport built on the idea that every game counts.
2. The Death of the Importance of Conference Championships
Under the old four-team CFP format, winning your conference championship held significant weight, especially for teams from power conferences like the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC. The regular season and conference championship games were about more than just making it to the playoff—they often determined who truly deserved to compete for a national title.
However, Ohio State’s journey through this expanded system, where they didn’t win the Big Ten championship but still earned a spot, exposes a critical flaw. The new system has diluted the importance of conference titles. In 2025, Ohio State lost to Michigan in the regular season and still advanced to the playoff, showcasing that finishing second in a power conference is no longer a clear impediment to playoff success. This departure from tradition, where conference championships were viewed as a stepping stone to the national title, makes the regular season less significant and renders conference championships merely another hurdle to climb before a real shot at the ultimate prize.
3. Unequal Pathways to the Playoff
One of the most controversial aspects of the 12-team playoff is how it awards spots to teams based on their ranking rather than pure merit. Ohio State’s 2025 run through the expanded playoff system revealed that a team’s strength of schedule or dominant wins no longer guarantees a top seed. Instead, teams can sneak in by the sheer virtue of playing in a prestigious conference, while lower-ranked programs with stronger records or more dominant performances may be overlooked.
This creates a disparity where a team like Ohio State, with a relatively poor performance in some areas of the regular season, benefits from a higher ranking due to the inherent bias toward major conferences. Teams from smaller conferences or with less prestigious historical pedigrees often find themselves squeezed out of an opportunity to prove their worth against the powerhouses, even if their season was superior in terms of actual on-field results. The system has inadvertently become a playground for the power conferences, rewarding long-standing traditions over true competitive achievement.
4. The Saturation of Playoff Teams: Overexposure and Fatigue
Perhaps one of the most overlooked consequences of the new playoff format is how it saturates the postseason with too many teams. The increased number of games diminishes the meaning of each contest, making the tournament feel more like a drawn-out spectacle than a series of highly competitive matchups.
Ohio State’s presence in this 12-team playoff epitomizes the fatigue that fans are already starting to feel. With so many teams now having a shot at the title, the elite programs that once earned their playoff spots through sheer excellence are now faced with the prospect of having to grind through several rounds of games that might feature weaker teams. The expansion doesn’t just hurt the balance of power between major and minor programs—it also risks overwhelming fans with too many games, diluting the excitement of the postseason.
5. The Inescapable Power Imbalance
Another issue highlighted by Ohio State’s participation in this larger playoff field is the continuing power imbalance between the major football conferences and the smaller ones. Even though the new playoff format was designed to provide more opportunities for teams like Boise State or Cincinnati to break through, it has, in reality, done little to address the disparities in recruiting, funding, and overall resources between the top programs and their smaller counterparts.
For instance, even though the Buckeyes struggled in certain regular-season matchups, their elite recruiting and deep-pocketed athletic department guaranteed them a place in the playoff. Meanwhile, smaller programs that have no such advantages are still left fighting an uphill battle to compete on the same stage. This imbalance, while not entirely new, is exacerbated by the sheer number of teams in the playoff, because it’s more difficult for truly underdog teams to break through without facing monumental challenges.
Conclusion: The CFP is Still Broken
Ohio State’s 2025 journey through the newly expanded College Football Playoff demonstrates that while the expansion was meant to increase fairness and inclusivity, it has done more to expose fundamental flaws in the system. From rewarding mediocrity and devaluing conference championships to increasing the power imbalance and overexposure of postseason play, the new format has delivered a product that undermines the integrity of college football. As it stands, the expanded playoff isn’t a fix—it’s a patchwork solution that fails to address the root problems of fairness, competition, and balance.
The road ahead may be long, but it’s clear that major reforms are needed to ensure that the playoff system truly serves the sport, its athletes, and its fans. The 12-team model may be here to stay, but as Ohio State’s journey shows, we must reexamine its flaws before it becomes irreparable.