DALLAS — This week, a member of the College Football Playoffs Administrative Committee was asked by text message how close we are to starting the 2024 12-team playoffs. This person took the question literally.
“About 14 months,” he replied.
good stuff. Now that’s all the shorthand it takes to describe the ongoing grind the Commission has been working to accelerate and prepare the playoff expansion in time for the 2024 postseason.
A committee of 10 FBS commissioners and University of Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick met on Thursday to discuss the possibility of starting an expanded playoff a year or two before it ends, so ( Again) there was progress but (again) no resolution. For the current trading of CFP in 2026. Time is running out.
CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock said after the meeting, “We are seeing progress. ‘Can we get there? I don’t know.'”
The date of the next meeting is yet to be decided. The group has discussed the issue three times since the CFP president issued a royal decree in August to extend the playoffs by 2026 at the latest.
problem remains
At the center of the remaining hurdles is whether to play 11 playoff games on weekdays, face the NFL head-to-head, or play a combination of both scheduling strategies. CBS Sports last month Learn more about how Enhanced CFP is scheduled It may compete with Week 18 of the NFL season and the NFL playoffs.
“There’s also a combination of the NFL’s expanded season,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said, adding, “We’re talking about an expanded playoff. We have more games, more inventory.” said.
The board struggles with further conflict over the first-round games on campus: final exams and fall graduation. For example, the published final exam dates for Alabama and Notre Dame may conflict with first-round matches on campus. His first round in 2024 couldn’t start until his Thursday, Dec. 19, according to CFP guidelines.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said, “It’s on my mind, very emotionally. Hancock said the eight teams would play four games, and it would take at least two days to complete the first round. He added that it would.
Unwinding and rebuilding existing deals with CFP bowl sites is another matter. [bowl partners]said MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher.
little resolution
If the expansion is approved, both the 2025 (Atlanta) and 2026 (South Florida) CFP National Championship sites could be moved in late January, Hancock said. Still, the commissioner is still on the hook as he tries to cram his postseason more college football into December and January than ever before.
Still, that’s just one of the problems solved in the grander plan. Now waiting for the rest to be figured out.
But after all this time, could it take another few weeks or months?
It took the sport 129 years to reach the two-team playoffs (BCS, 1998) and another 16 years to reach the four-team field (CFP, 2014). There will be a 12-team playoff in the near future. The remaining question is whether it will be in 2024, 2025 or 2026.
