On Friday, the College Football Playoff’s (CFP) Board of Managers, comprised of university presidents and chancellors, voted to expand the playoff from four teams to 12.
According to sources, the vote on expansion was reportedly unanimous. There had been a great deal of disagreement in past conversations of expanding. Most of the disagreements had stemmed from revenue share and player safety with the added contests.
The new 12-team format will include six automatic qualifiers as a result of being conference champions and six at-large bids that will be given to those that are the highest ranked after the conference championships are played.
The college football landscape has changed drastically over the past couple of years. As debate wages on regarding NIL and how to establish guidelines for players being compensated, major conference realignment has generated a seismic shift amongst conference members and leadership.
Notably, Texas and Oklahoma are set to join the SEC by 2025 at the latest, and USC and UCLA are set to join the Big10 by 2024.
There was widespread speculation of the SEC and Big10 creating two “super conferences” and leaving the NCAA all together to create a new system and governing body. The agreement to expand the playoff all but ensures that this will not occur.
The monumental news of playoff expansion comes one day prior to the first Saturday of formal college football season. The new playoff format will be implemented no later than 2026; however, conference commissioners are being encouraged to agree to implement the new system for the 2024 season.
Ben Richardson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News
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