College Football Playoff: Big Ten floats 24-plus-team format

Yahoo

18 hours ago

New college football playoff formats of 20-plus teams are being explored by leaders in the Big Ten, and perhaps the SEC too.
Big Ten executives are socializing 24 and 28-team College Football Playoff brackets that feature as many as seven automatic qualifiers each for the Big Ten and SEC, five each for the Big 12 and ACC, two for the best Group of 6 programs and two at-large selections. Those briefed on the idea, most of them leading administrators in the Big Ten, spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity about the so-called '7-7-5-5-2-2' model.
Those with knowledge of the discussions caution that the concept is in the infancy stage of development and may undergo significant changes or be dismissed entirely once introduced to the full CFP group. For now, it remains a talking point within the two leagues that control decision making over the future CFP format beyond this year.
One high-level source described it as a 'barely baked idea' and emphasized that it is in no way certain to gain approval any time soon. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey held a preliminary call to exchange thoughts on the idea on Friday.
The concept, if implemented, could trigger massive change, both in the historic nature of how regular season games are scheduled and the annual season-ending conference championship games. League title games, made more irrelevant in the expanded playoff era, may be eliminated as a requirement in scheduling the five rounds of the playoff — something administrators have openly acknowledged in the past.
Specific rules of the concept are not necessarily solidified, but, presumably, the format will allow for the top four seeds to receive a first-round bye. Currently, the CFP selection committee seeds the teams based on the group's rankings. Conferences would presumably hold discretion in determining their qualifiers, a decision that likely focuses on league standings.
Eliminating conference championship games — the first weekend of December — would set in motion the ability to play at least the first round of the playoffs on the second week of the month, when no NFL games are played, a savvy maneuver to avoid competing with big brother. The 12-team CFP's first round falls on the third weekend of December, in direct competition with the NFL.
The addition of a fifth postseason round also opens the possibility for the first two rounds to be hosted on the campus of the higher-seeded program. Currently, only the first round is on campus before the six major bowls host the quarterfinals and semifinals. The national championship game is rotated in a bidding process.
The 28-team concept is only the latest format proposed to expand the current version of the field.
The Big Ten proposed last year and again earlier this spring a 16-team bracket with four automatic qualifiers for the SEC and Big Ten, two for the ACC and Big 12, one for the best among the Group of 6 and three at-large. Though it received pushback from many corners, most notably among leaders in the ACC and Big 12, SEC administrators deeply explored the model with intentions to support it before their head football coaches spoke out against the format during spring meetings in May.
Those from the Big 12 and ACC, as well as SEC coaches, swung their support behind what's termed a '5+11' format, which is similar to the current CFP model with the addition of four at-large selections. The five highest-ranked conference champions each earn an automatic berth.
Any future format is not necessarily a group decision among the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director that make up the CFP governing committee. As part of the CFP's new six-year extension signed last year, the nine other members granted the SEC and Big Ten control on any future format as long as those two conferences hold 'meaningful' conversation with the others.
The Big Ten's proposed '4-4-2-2-1-3' model drew sharp criticism from many others, most notably Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark who 'doubled down' during his football media days last month about his desire to avoid any pro-like format with multiple automatic qualifiers for a single league. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips spoke out against it, too, describing the format as 'predetermining' a playoff field before the season began.
The leagues, as well as many in the Group of 6, threw their support behind the 5+11 format and so, too, did the SEC coaches and some of their athletic directors who pointed to the possibility of increasing the chances of qualifying more teams in a format with a bigger at-large pool.
However, in the midst of the playoff debate is an internal conversation within the SEC that's now spanned more than four years: Should the league move to nine conference games from its current eight-game schedule? The Big Ten has pushed back against agreeing to any playoff format with a big at-large pool if the SEC remains at eight games.
SEC athletic directors meet next week in Birmingham where these topics, and many more, are expected to be discussed. Any shift toward a playoff with multiple automatic spots per league may be a contributing element in the conference moving to a nine-game conference schedule. Already, the financial incentive to do so exists: ESPN and the SEC have for months now been in negotiations for additional revenue - as much as $5 million annual per school - if the conference adds a ninth game.
Meanwhile, the CFP is in the midst of adjusting its selection criteria to increase the weight of a team's strength of schedule - a divisive issue among Big Ten and SEC leaders who claim that their league schedules are tougher than that of other conferences.
The CFP staff proposed to commissioners an adjustment to the committee's strength of schedule ranking that gives more weight to games played, for instance, against the top 30-40 programs in the country. Secondly, a new data point, 'strength of record,' has been created that grants more weight to good wins and doesn't penalize as much a program for losses against ranked or top teams.
The new selection criteria was introduced to the CFP selection committee - a group made up mostly athletic directors and former coaches - during their annual August meeting earlier this week.
A deadline looms for a decision for the 2026 playoff. While this year is set at the current 12-team format, leaders must decide on the 2026 format by Dec. 1 - a deadline date that ESPN gave to CFP leaders.