After years of clamoring for a playoff, fans finally got one in 2014, with the invention of the College Football Playoff. The playoff included four teams selected by a committee. Almost immediately, there was talk of expanding the playoffs, which happened for the 2024 season with the move to the 12-team playoff. Since then, there has been movement towards expanding the College Football Playoff again.

Now, as there seems to be movement towards a 24-team playoff, the future of bowl games is in question, per Brett McMurphy of On3.

“We’ll be out of business if we go to 24 teams,” said one bowl executive.

The possibility that bowl games could go out of existence has left executives of the bowl games looking for answers. That includes possibly the preseason.

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“You have to get creative,” another executive said. “We could have standalone games before the season and bring in more markets.”

If the playoffs expanded to 24-teams, the format would matter in how teams qualify for the playoffs. BYU was the top team in the rankings not to make the playoffs, and they ended up playing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. While Georgia Tech was also in that game, the appeal of the game goes down without two ranked teams. Georgia Tech also could have made the playoffs, being ranked 22nd in the final rankings.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl was not the only non-playoff game between two ranked teams. The Gator Bowl featured Virginia and Missouri, who were both ranked in the AP Top 25. Virginia was ranked in the final CFP rankings, but Missouri was not. There was also the Citrus Bowl between Texas and Michigan, who both would have made a 24-team playoff.

With fewer marquee teams to choose from, bowls will need to find a new way to make money, which could mean moving the games to the preseason instead of extra postseason games.