Change is coming.
Seven years after the inaugural College Football Playoff, a subcommittee within the playoff’s managerial committee has decided to recommend an expansion. The expansion would include eight more teams than the current four-team version. The full 11-member committee will decide on the proposal this week.
Here’s what you need to know:
The subcommittee has been working for two years
College Football Playoff Management Committee is comprised of 11 members: the 10 commissioners of FBS conferences, plus the athletic director from Notre Dame.
Out of those 11, four were chosen to comprise a subcommittee tasked with fleshing out the details of an expanded playoff in college football. This subcommittee was formed two years ago and is comprised of the Big 12, SEC, and Mountian West commissioners, as well as the Notre Dame athletic director.
News of their proposal leaked this week and the full committee must agree on a format during its meetings June 17-18. The plan will be finalized during a September meeting, with more details fleshed out over the summer.
The proposal
The subcommittee is proposing a 12-team playoff with the top four seeds earning byes. Those top four seeds will be given to the four FBS conference champions ranked the highest in the final College Football Playoff Rankings.
The field is comprised of the six highest-rated FBS conference champions, with the next six spots filled out by the highest-ranked remaining teams in the CFP rankings.
The first round games will be played on-campus, with the higher seed playing host. Then, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in bowl games and the College Football Championship will remain the same.
The emphasis on conference champions is particularly interesting. By including the six highest-ranked champions, the subcommittee is guaranteeing that at least one group of five school will be included in the playoff. (Last year there would have been two, as both Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina were ranked ahead of Oregon.)
It’s worth noting that the Notre Dame athletic director was part of the subcommittee that proposed these changes, since the school he represents isn’t part of a conference. His team, which has participated in two of the last three College Football Playoffs, won’t be eligible for a top-four seed if the proposal is approved.
The change won’t come quickly
The current College Football Playoff media contract runs through the 2025-26 season, but change could come before then.
The door will likely open in 2023.
The sticking point is convincing the TV partners, ESPN, that the change is mutually beneficial. ESPN also holds the TV rights to most bowl games, so it could be worried about taking some of the best teams in the country off of the ESPN lineup. Still, ESPN would likely receive the rights to the additional CFP games, which the average viewer should be more interested in than a bowl game. In fact, ESPN would probably be happy with the change… so much so that the CFP could ask for more money.
Nothing in sports is ever set in stone until the TV partners agree, but the motivations for both sides would point toward an easy resolution.
