Josh Pate draws the line at a 24-team playoff
His expansion reaction has viewers revisiting the losses and last-second plays that once decided an entire season.
Josh Pate's College Football Show
Story of Why this story? The video drew 1,233 comments in its first day, 7.1 times a normal first day on this channel (173).
CFP Expanding To 24 Teams...FULL Reaction - Josh Pate's College Football Show
Things we can learn from the video
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- 0:00Pate introduces Thamel's report of a possible 24-team playoff beginning in 2027.
- 7:02He says player movement and NIL helped justify his acceptance of a 12-team field.
- 11:00He argues that a larger playoff reduces the consequences of losing major regular-season games.
- 16:15Pate argues that keeping donors invested in teams with several losses helps explain expansion.
- 18:28He questions whether expansion would stop at 24, citing earlier assurances about smaller formats.
Would Auburn's famous Kick Six carry the same weight if both teams could still reach the playoff? That's the question one viewer brings to Josh Pate's reaction to a proposed expansion of the College Football Playoff.
It's a specific example of Pate's central objection: a bigger postseason could make the Saturdays leading up to it matter less. His video drew more than seven times the channel's usual first-day comments, with viewers debating what college football would give up in exchange for more playoff games.
Pate opens with Pete Thamel's report that a deal for a 24-team field starting in 2027 is nearing agreement, with ESPN retaining the media rights. This is a reaction to a reported proposal, not an announcement of a completed deal.
His position isn't that every expansion was a mistake. Pate explains that he came around to a dozen teams because player movement through the transfer portal and name, image and likeness opportunities had spread talent more widely. But he argues that doubling that field goes beyond the pool of credible championship contenders and removes urgency from major regular-season matchups such as Alabama-Georgia.
The comments make that argument personal. One viewer recalls repeatedly rewatching Penn State's 2008 loss to Iowa, trying to understand how a season-defining defeat happened. Others pick up on Pate's joke about celebrating a low playoff seed, or question whether making college football resemble the NFL is desirable at all.
Pate also argues that expansion offers donors the prospect of playoff contention even after several losses. Yet his closing thought leaves room for the sport beneath the format: "We'll be okay." Saturdays in the fall, he points out, will still exist.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
I still remember how devastating Penn States 2008 loss to Iowa felt. I watched that game back 10 times as an 11 year old trying to figure out how they lost. The stakes of your team losing once and their season being over was everything and what made it so great.
@Wrestlingfan299See it on YouTubeJust ask yourself how meaningful the Kick Six would be in the 24 team era. Just a highlight play and nothing else.. a footnote
@backwardsthinker2794See it on YouTube"We locked down the #22 seed".... Great job Pate😂😂😂
@mattmosley5810See it on YouTube
2 more comments
I understand why my grandpa used to talk about “the good old days” now
@milesbowen9433See it on YouTubeExpansion Fatigue…
@trenttebow402See it on YouTube
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- Subscribers
- 583,000 ▲ 4,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 2,967,718
- Channel views, pace per day
- 490,586 (on a normal day: 366,474)
- Video published
- October 16, 2026
- Video views so far
- 155,654 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 132,564
The numbers
Views were ordinary for a Pate upload. The unusually busy comment section is what sets this reaction apart.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which team won the first College Football Playoff national championship?
Ohio State defeated Oregon in January 2015 to win the championship for the 2014 season.