24-team leagues

Have only played in 12-team leagues to date, so I am curious to opinions as to the pros and cons of the 24-team format. I am especially interested to know how the expansion alters draft strategy. I am assuming that the $80 million dollar salary cap remains the default setting.

In my opinion the only drawback to 24-team leagues is that they take longer, sometimes much longer, to fill. Also, the schedules can be wacky with very long home- or roadstands, so a team's record can sometimes be misleading do to an unbalanced schedule (everyone ends with 81 at home and 81 on the road, though).

One of the pros is that I am forced to use players I don't normally use and i can't just fall back on old habits. Also, I will encounter a more diverse array of ballparks so I can't just plan for my ballpark and my division's. Because there are 8 post-season slots, although proportionally the same as a 12-teamer, it also feel like there is more hope I can turn it around and sneak into the playoffs if my team is struggling.

If it alters my draft strategy at all, I focus on mid-to-low range players I like. If I don't draft them highly I'm not going to get them. So if I like Kirk Rueter (which I do, very much), instead of ranking him 6 or 7 as I normally would I go ahead and rank him 1 or 2. Especially at $80m, there will still be plenty of high-priced players on the waiver wire even at 24-teams.