The College Football Playoff conversation may be grabbing the headlines, but for Jeff Brohm and Louisville, the possibility of expansion is about more than format. It could reshape the entire standard for what counts as success in Louisville.
ESPN reported earlier this week that college football is nearing a final deal to expand the playoff field from 12 teams to 24. For the Cardinals, that kind of jump would almost certainly be good news. Louisville has never reached the playoff, and a bigger bracket would give Brohm’s program a far cleaner path toward getting there.
That’s the catch, though. If the field grows to 24, the margin for simply being “pretty good” shrinks fast.
Brohm has already made Louisville a real player in the ACC picture. Since arriving, the Cardinals have won at least nine games every season, and in 2023 they got to 10 wins and reached the ACC Championship Game. Brohm has also picked up the “giant killer” label by taking down Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami, and SMU, while also pushing Ole Miss close.
But the same problem keeps hanging around: Louisville has also dropped games it should not lose. That inconsistency has made it hard for the Cardinals to get over the hump in a 12-team playoff race.
A 24-team playoff would soften that blow and give Louisville more room to breathe. It would also, in a very real way, remove the safety net.
Because if the expansion becomes reality, there will be no real excuse for Brohm to miss the postseason.
The pressure would only intensify from there. Brohm would need to make sure Louisville takes care of the kinds of games that have caused trouble before - matchups like Stanford, Cal, and NC State - and keep the program operating like a team that belongs in the top 24 every season. The goal would not just be to get in once, but to make the Cardinals a regular part of the playoff picture.
That matters even more because Louisville fans are clearly hungry for that first berth. Coming into the 2026 season, expectations were already high, with Brohm bringing in a top-five Transfer Portal class and returning key players such as Isaac Brown and Clev Lubin.
Even though the playoffs would not be on the table this year, missing out on a 24-team field in 2026 would have been a major disappointment. As things stand, the Cardinals are 3-3.
So even if the expansion is supposed to make life easier, it also puts a spotlight right back on Louisville’s flaws. Brohm would need to keep building the roster into one that can actually function as a true playoff team in the new setup. The path would be wider, yes, but the expectations would be heavier too.
Whether fans like the move or not, the expansion still sounds likely. And once it arrives, Louisville’s coach will be judged on whether he can keep raising the program’s level, clean up the bad losses, and finally deliver the Cardinals their first CFP berth.
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