{"id":663279,"date":"2026-05-11T23:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T23:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/663279\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T23:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T23:45:10","slug":"jake-ceresna-thinks-new-cfl-playoff-format-will-be-good-for-the-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/663279\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Ceresna thinks new CFL playoff format will be ‘good for the league’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: John Hodge\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Jake Ceresna is all smiles these days.<\/p>\n

The two-time All-CFL defensive lineman is thrilled to be with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers \u2014 he called defensive coordinator Jordan Younger a \u201cdefensive genius\u201d \u2014 and seems excited for 2027, when the league\u2019s expanded playoff format<\/a> will take effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be good for the league. We\u2019re gonna get an extra week of playoffs,\u201d said the 31-year-old native of New Fairfield, Conn.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could lose the first week of the playoffs and then go on to win a Grey Cup, which would be crazy. I think it would be a hell of a story. What if you lose to the team week one, and then you beat someone, and then you gotta come back and play them again, and then you beat them?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019ll be good. We get an extra week of playoffs, so it\u2019s not really short. Right now, if you win your division, you only get one home game, and then you\u2019re right to the Grey Cup, so it gives more opportunity for fans around the league to come to playoff games in a better atmosphere. I think it\u2019ll be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

After this year, the CFL playoffs will grow to eight teams and four rounds, including the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

The top two teams in both divisions will play non-elimination games in round one, while the bottom four seeds face-off in \u201cplay-in\u201d games. The next two rounds will play out similarly to the current playoff format, culminating in the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

The changes have received positive reviews<\/a> and negative reviews<\/a>, with league commissioner Stewart Johnston suggesting fans will \u201cget past\u201d the optics<\/a> of having eight teams in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Ceresna understands those who have criticized the new format, though he appreciates the CFL\u2019s willingness to shake things up.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Critics) probably will (scoff at eight of nine teams making the playoffs). We\u2019ll see what happens. Maybe we get a couple of extra teams in the league or something down the road, and then it kind of evens it out, but you know what I like? Stewart\u2019s trying new things,\u201d said the veteran defender.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a long time, the thing about the CFL was always, \u2018It\u2019s a dying league, it\u2019s just the same old thing,\u2019 but now he\u2019s trying new stuff and throwing stuff at the wall, so we\u2019ll see \u2014 that\u2019s better than just the same old song and dance and letting it decline. Let\u2019s try something new, let\u2019s switch it up. If it doesn\u2019t work, I guess we could always go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brady Oliveira was a vocal detractor of the new format<\/a> when the announcement was made last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cEight out of nine teams in the (CFL) playoffs takes away from what makes those games special,\u201d he wrote on social media. \u201cPlayoff football is supposed to be earned. If anything, grow the league by adding more teams, not the number of automatic spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the two-time All-CFL running back reiterated some of this criticism while also acknowledging the league\u2019s leadership must have made it with good intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cOptically, when you just say in a sentence, \u2018Eight of the nine teams are going to be in the playoffs,\u2019 that was the only thing that was kind of a concern for me. I was like, \u2018Might as well put all nine teams in then,’\u201d said Oliveira.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we have to have belief and faith that the commissioner, the board of governors, they\u2019re all making the best decision, whatever is going to grow this league. (The format change) is not \u2019til next year. Let\u2019s really hope that they\u2019re making the best decisions possible. I love this league, I want to continue to see it grow. I know the product is so amazing and we need to get more eyes on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it from a business standpoint with more games, more revenue, TV partnerships, all that stuff, so if that\u2019s going to bring more eyes to the game, then I\u2019m for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFL\u2019s playoff format has remained unchanged for 2026, which is the campaign on which everyone\u2019s currently focused.<\/p>\n

Come next year, expect even more coaches, players, and members of the media to weigh-in on both sides of the debate.<\/p>\n

For a full breakdown of the new playoffs, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: John Hodge\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Jake Ceresna is all smiles these days. The two-time All-CFL defensive lineman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[119759,166835,166836,22070,22936,110975,49,48,521,522,245033,520,65970,182041,3468,36547,186895,82,22073],"class_list":["post-663279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-119759","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-blue-bombers","tag-bombers","tag-brady-oliveira","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-ceresna","tag-cfl","tag-format","tag-jake-ceresna","tag-playoff","tag-playoffs","tag-running-back","tag-sports","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}