Momentum for an expanded playoff field in major college football has stalled. And if modifications to the playoff structure are still going to happen as early as possible, it will need to pick back up sooner rather than later.
It’s been nearly four months since the College Football Playoff’s working group proposed the idea of a 12-team playoff, which would triple the number of teams that currently get to play for the national championship every year. But moving the process along has hit a snag as other alternatives continue to be discussed among those who are ultimately responsible for recommending a new format.
The CFP Board of Managers, a group comprised of 11 presidents and chancellors representing each FBS conference that has ultimately authority over any potential changes, joined a meeting Tuesday with conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick that make up a management committee, which is tasked with deciding on a new playoff format if there’s going to be one. There was some thought originally the board would have a proposal to vote on from the management committee, but differences on what exactly that proposal should look like kept committee members from coming to a consensus during a meeting last week, taking that possibility off the table Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
Instead, Tuesday’s meeting was more about talking through the issues, according to CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock, who attended the meeting.
“I never expected a rubber stamp on this,” Hancock told the AP. “It’s too complicated.”
A big point of contention among commissioners continues to be how much the playoff should expand. Twelve teams is still an option as are eight teams or staying at four, Hancock told the AP.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is a member of the working group that proposed the change to 12 teams, a dead giveaway the conference is on board with expansion. Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren and Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff have both voiced support for some sort of expansion while ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, who joined forces with Warren and Kliavkoff to form an alliance in part so that the three conferences could have a voice in expansion discussions, hasn’t publicly backed growing the playoff field.
“We haven’t made a final decision on where we will fall,” Phillips said when his league’s alliance with the Big Ten and Pac-12 became official last month.
But agreeing on a number of teams isn’t the only issue. Lengthening the season, the possible effect on the current bowl structure and media rights also pose plenty of questions for commissioners to ponder.
“Health and wellness issues. Not only physical but mental,” Warren said last month. “Primarily the academics. How does this impact final exams? In the Midwest, we’re in cold-weather climates. We need to make sure our stadiums are winterized. How does this impact our network partners? All these different issues need to be reviewed, analyzed and assimilated.”
As for the television part of the delay, ESPN has a 12-year contract as the CFP’s network partner that doesn’t expire until after the 2025 season. That means the network would have first dibs on whether to or not to refuse any additions to the playoff format for the duration of the contract, but new games could be offered to other networks.
According to a Sports Illustrated report, other potential media partners are interested in throwing their hat in the ring given the additional revenue that would come from more playoff games. There’s also opposition to ESPN being the sole media rights holder of an expanded playoff, according to SI.
Big 12 members Texas and Oklahoma being invited to (and eventually joining) the SEC has triggered a new wave of future conference realignment, which also has administrators hesitant to rush into playoff expansion. But if it’s going to happen before the current media deal ends, a new format would likely have to be recommended and approved before the end of the season.
Otherwise, any expansion would have to wait to go into effect after ESPN’s contract expires.
“If the event is going to change before the end of the term, into the 12 years, we have three or four months,” Hancock told the AP. “If it’s going to change in year 13, then we have a couple of years. So we have the luxury of time.”
Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
