Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield knows the stakes have been raised for his team heading into the 2024 season.

The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams, and one of those spots will be reserved for a team from the Group of Five.

"Going to the 12-team playoff is obviously an exciting thing for our program, because of what it means for possibly our conference winner," Silverfield said Wednesday. "I think what it does is it eliminates this P4 mindset and approach. And we use it in recruiting all the time. I'll use a school and say, 'OK, who has a better chance of winning: This school here, in this location, winning their conference, or Memphis?' 'Oh, of course, you guys do.' 'Well, great, you say you want to play big-time football, this is that opportunity.' So it's another way to sell our program and what we're all about."

Silverfield spoke less than a week before the Tigers kick off spring practices Tuesday. Memphis is bringing back plenty of starters from last year's team that went 10-3, including the program's all-time leading passer in Seth Henigan, leading receiver Roc Taylor and All-AAC linebacker Chandler Martin.

It means the expectations will be higher than they've ever been for this program. This is the first year Memphis can realistically make the playoff, and it comes as Henigan and Taylor are heading into their final years of eligibility.

"It doesn't mean a damn thing," Silverfield said about the expectations. "We haven't even reached our goal of winning a conference championship, and that's got to be the main goal."

That goal will be important for the playoff race because the AAC champion has been the highest ranked Group of Five team at the end of most seasons in the last decade. The prize for that spot used to be a New Year's Six bowl game, but now it's a playoff spot.

In the new landscape, an elite Group of Five team probably has a more direct path to the playoff than a middle of the road team in a power conference, something looming as Memphis continues to chart its path forward with conference realignment.

"The middle of the road schools don't have a chance of making the playoff," offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey said. "We do."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football recruiting helped by CFP, Ryan Silverfield says