The College Football Playoff Board of Managers is apparently frustrated with the lack of movement by the FBS conference commissioners on playoff expansion. Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated has announced that as a result of that frustration, the managers will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss adopting an expanded College Football Playoff Bracket to 12 teams as early as the 2024 season.
The CFP Board of Managers is an 11-member committee that includes representatives from the 10 FBS conferences, plus Notre Dame. The vote to expand must be unanimous. The format of the playoff could be the model that was selected as the ideal format last summer after two years of debate and 60 different models. According to Dellinger,
“In the model, the six highest-ranked conference champions receive an automatic berth while the next six highest-ranked teams get at-large bids into the field. The four highest-ranked conference champions get a first-round bye. First rounds are played on campus while quarterfinals and semifinals are hosted by a rotation of six bowls.”
It’s unknown what will happen at Friday’s meeting. Should expansion be adopted, it could cause several reasonably significant problems for the CFP and its partners, as the number of games would triple with only about two years of lead time to figure out the logistics. There would also be the issue of TV rights, as ESPN holds those rights for the ’24 and ’25 playoffs. How would those rights deals be effected after expansion?
Friday’s meeting should be a wild one. Stay tuned to Cornhuskers Wire for the latest.
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