​Tigers Head Coach Brian Kelly, LSU Tigers take on the Texas A&M Aggies. © ImagnFormer LSU head coach Brian Kelly believes the College Football Playoff’s planned expansion to 24 teams in 2027 will bring the biggest shift in how teams define success. Kelly believes winning a conference championship may no longer be the ultimate goal for programs. Instead, securing a place in the expanded playoff field will become their primary focus.Speaking on SiriusXM, Kelly explained how the new format could reshape college football.“You don’t have to worry about winning the conference championship. You need to be one of the 24 teams. And so that’s a paradigm shift in terms of what you’re looking at, in terms of building your football team,” Kelly said.Kelly thinks the expanded playoff will give more programs a realistic opportunity to compete for a national championship.As per the new 24-team format, the playoff field will include the four Power Four conference champions, the highest-ranked Group of Six champion, and 19 teams selected based on the committee’s final rankings.That structure will be significantly beneficial for programs that traditionally struggled to compete financially and recruit at the same level as other teams with bigger budgets.“So it’s now a lot different in terms of what your ultimate goal is. And that’s get in the playoffs,” he added.Alabama’s Ranking Raises Questions About the CFP Selection CriteriaThe current playoff selection process shows why conference championships and head-to-head results don’t tell the full story.Alabama went up from No. 5 to No. 3 in the CFP rankings despite having two losses. Committee chair Hunter Yurachek defended the decision by saying it’s because of the Crimson Tide’s strength of schedule and four quality wins.“They’re number one in their record strength, number one in their schedule strength. They have four of what we call quality wins, because we continue to call that the win against Mississippi State earlier in the year when they had Kamario Taylor on their team. They were four and zero. Alabama went there and won that game. So Alabama, we believe, deserves to be the number three team in the country,” committee chair Hunter Yurachek said on ESPN.Alabama’s ranking also placed it above Tennessee, despite the Volunteers defeating the Crimson Tide earlier in the season.Yurachek explained that the committee considers the overall resume rather than relying only on head-to-head results.Also Read: “Don’t Think He Wants to Do the Job”: Colorado Alum Raises Concerns About Deion Sanders’ Commitment“There Might Be Something Subtle”: Ohio State OC Addresses Jeremiah Smith’s Problem After 32-Minute Target Drought Against OregonCollege Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in tennis, college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!