College Football Playoff expansion has been an ongoing discussion for the better part of two decades. A change to the current 12-team format seems inevitable. Reports emerged from the Big Ten's spring meetings this week that the league's commissioner, Tony Petitti, wants a 24-team playoff. That would help programs like Minnesota, but hurt the long-term health of college football. Here's why.College football isn't the NFL. It never has been, but it seems like TV executives and conference commissioners are doing everything they can to copy America's top professional league. Player compensation and the transfer portal (or free agency) have essentially created a professional league, but that hasn't hurt viewership. It's because every game feels like it matters.The postseason is the most important part of every major professional league in American sports. That has never been the case in college football. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) felt like the perfect happy medium between creating a fair system to decide a national champion, while still keeping the history of bowl season. We're never going back to that, but that doesn't mean we have to go completely in the other direction.The Gophers would've comfortably made the 24-team playoff if it had existed in 2019. They would've been firmly on the bubble in 2022 and 2023. The Outback Bowl on New Year's Day in 2020 would've essentially been a College Football Playoff game. There are obviously benefits to that situation for programs like Minnesota, but it would completely change the entire fabric of a sport that has been a part of American culture for more than 150 years.Minnesota wide receiver Tyler Johnson (6) catches a touchdown pass over Auburn defensive back Jeremiah Dinson (20) during the Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. Minnesota leads Auburn 24-17 at halftime.