Oct 22, 2026 · 1h 5m
College football weighs access against regular-season stakes
Why We Need to Embrace the 24 Team Playoff + Week 8 Preview | The BFW Show 10.21.26
A proposed 24-team playoff could broaden the title race while changing the value of every game that precedes it.
- 1Brandon Walker favors a 24-team playoff, while Jack warns that rapid expansion could cheapen the regular season.
- 2The Heisman race and national title picture remain unsettled as more teams occupy the sport’s top competitive tier.
- 3Week 8 offers volatile betting spots, especially UCF as a home underdog and Oklahoma State against Colorado.
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Brandon and Jack’s playoff argument crystallizes the central tradeoff between broader access and preserving the regular season’s stakes.
The brief
Brandon Walker and Jack open on a relatively quiet Week 8 slate before turning to the larger question: would a 24-team playoff repair postseason selection or dilute the regular season?
Brandon argues expansion corrects decades of inadequate access, while Jack says moving beyond the 12-team format could cheapen the games that made this season compelling.
The conversation widens to coaches fighting for their jobs, including Shane Beamer and Mike Norvell, then to a Heisman race led by uncertainty around Jeremiah Smith and his challengers.
Their national picture is notably unsettled: Indiana is not clearly No. 1, Ohio State looks less convincing, and Georgia emerges as Brandon’s tentative top choice.
The Week 8 preview finds danger in familiar places, from UCF as a home underdog against BYU to volatile SEC road games and Oklahoma State against Colorado.
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