After weeks, if not months, of rumblings, ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel set the sport on fire Thursday with a report that the College Football Playoff is close to a deal to expand the field from 12 to 24 teams.

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The news sent shockwaves through the landscape of the sport, with fans and media members coming out both for and against the decision, with rational and irrational takes alike. But what about the people who actually live it? The GMs, coaches, and personnel members whose every waking moment is dedicated to creating a winning program. We at A to Z Sports were fortunate enough to speak with multiple sources about the marquee move, and they gave us their raw, unfiltered reaction.

College football ‘isn’t March Madness‘

The expansion to 24 may not exactly be the field of 68 (soon to be 76) in college basketball, but given the dynamic difference between the two sports, 24 feels close enough. That’s not what those embedded were hoping for:

“The move is horrible. It’s just a money grab. This isn’t March Madness. No more conference championships, no more bowl games. You may think it gives smaller schools a chance to compete for something bigger and make a name for themselves. We saw the complete opposite in last year’s playoffs when JMU and Tulane made the CFP.” – Group of 6 recruiting staffer.

Does the move to 24 teams better the sport?

A lot of consumers will tell you that college football is broken or needs fixing. That it needs guidelines or parameters. A lot more people feel that way after Thursday. I’m not here to discuss that, but the notion that the expansion creates greater equity among programs is one not shared by those who work inside of those programs:

“This decision is solely money-driven and not what’s best for the game. In these decision-making rooms, it clearly shows that they don’t care about the greater good of the sport, but just about money. Plus the rumors of conference realignment today… Just a state of constant chaos in collegiate athletics for the last 5-6 years with no signs of stopping.” – Group of 6 Pro Liaison.

Will a 24-team playoff minimize the importance of the regular season?

A lot of concern among fans and media members is that college football has grown to such stardom because every single Saturday matters. Some believe that with an expanded field, that waters down the product before December and makes the stakes every week lower. Turns out, some inside the sport agree:

“In theory, it [24-team playoff] helps non-traditional powers, but overall for college football [and the regular season], I don’t like it at all. People think eligibility and NIL are ruining college sports… No, it’s the playoff expansion, constant conference realignment to adjust to it, and corporations wanting to money-grab the sport. Truly just disgusting, I hate it.” – Power 4 general manager

What happens in the first round of the CFP now?

Last year’s first round featured blowouts between Oregon and James Madison (Oregon 51, James Madison 34) and Ole Miss and Tulane (Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10). A lot of people worry that these types of games will only continue as we add middle-of-the-road Power 4 teams and more Group of 6 schools:

“If I’m Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State, and I’m playing North Texas or JMU or a mediocre BIG-12/ACC school in round one, I’ll tell you what I’m doing. Not only am I resting my starters before the playoff, but I’m also resting my starters in round one. North Texas doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of beating Alabama.” – Group of 6 player personnel staffer.

There’s no going back

Regardless of how people inside and out feel about the sport, the expansion is here, and how long it stays at 24 teams remains to be seen. The CFP is a business, and revenue generation comes first in business, even if it means pouring salt in the wounds of the consumers.

We will still watch; we will still cheer for our universities; we will still be excited to see who wins it all. But college football, as we have known it, changed forever on Thursday, and the only thing we know for sure is that more change will be coming in the future.