Just as the expansion of the Indianapolis-College Football Playoff seemed to be in the final stages, Texas and Oklahoma jumped to the SEC to begin the reorganization of the conference, putting the entire process on hold. .. The FBS Commissioner’s meeting in Park City, Utah last month was so successful that those who fought for CFP expansion last year seem to be approaching a format decision.
“We didn’t solve anything, but we had a really good meeting,” one of the rally attendees told CBS Sports. “I’m pretty optimistic about the meeting, and it’s booming five days later. I don’t know how we’ve affected it. The best meeting in over a year was.”
That “boom” moment came on June 30th, when the words USC and UCLA were participating in Big Ten were leaked. But since then, commissioners have been optimistic about the expansion of the CFP, and big ten commissioner Kevin Warren has recently shown interest in the 16-team model.
“I want to see 16,” Warren told CBS Sports at Big Ten Media Days. “I want to see them all. I want to see all but four.”
As proposed last year, the 12-team playoffs included six top-ranked conference champions and six large bids. Warren wanted a guaranteed place for the Big Ten Champion, so he voted against the model.
(Spoiler Note: The Big Ten Champion was a virtual lock to become one of these Top 6 Conference Champions each year.)
Warren was voted “no” by Pac-12 Commissioner Georgia Kliavkoff and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. At that time, unanimous consent was required for passage.
On Tuesday, Warren said he was “100%” in favor of the expansion.Then he said athletic “I’m going to soften” [his] A stance on the top 6 champions. “
It may have something to do with Big Ten and the SEC being in the process of moving away from other college football. It may also be recognized that after the current CFP contract expires following the 2025 season, unanimous voting will no longer be required to change the structure.
Mississippi President Mark Keenam, President of the CFP Board, said earlier this summer that he hopes the expansion will be resolved by next summer. Expansion brackets will be installed in the 2026 season.
Last week, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said he would support brackets that include the best teams available, whether or not they are conference champions. Sankey was part of a four-member subcommittee that took two years to model everything from the playoffs of four to 16 teams before settling on the proposed 12-team format.
Sudden interest in 16 may be best explained by “Why?” Still, one well-known industry called the idea “crazy” and said that Sankey’s former subcommittee understood it correctly with 12 teams.
CBS Sports said the 12-team bracket is worth about $ 1.2 billion a year, according to industry sources.
It is possible that support for 16 teams of brackets hatched while the Commissioner was in Park City for the annual College Commissioner Association meeting. Of those eligible to attend the conference, only Notre Dame Athletic Director Jacks Warbrick was absent due to a previous commitment.
“It’s okay to be 16 years old,” said Barry Alvarez, senior football adviser at Big Ten. I think we need more access. College football needs more access to the playoffs. Previously all games were important. Now, when someone loses the game early, people lose interest. Well, they’re out of the playoffs. “
One of these expansion architects, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, along with Sankey, explained that up to 30 teams will compete by November if they need to fill in the brackets for 12 teams.
Warren et al. Have already predicted that all programs in the 16-team bracket will need to start their regular season in the last week of August. The space is now labeled “Week Zero”. This is the opener for a few teams before the traditional Labor Day weekend opener.
The 12-game season is then completed in time for the first round of playoff games to begin in the second week of December.
