The commissioners of the Big 12 and ACC have publicly come out in favor of expanding the College Football Playoff (CFP) to 24 teams, On3 reports.
“We like 24, we want 24,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark told On3. “There are too many teams getting left out and 24 teams provides the type of access that is warranted. That being said, we need to do the work around the economics around a 24-team format and make sure we address any unintended consequences.”
As for his ACC counterpart, Jim Phillips, he also endorsed the 24-team format.
“Our desire with the coaches and the ADs is 24,” Phillips said. “When you’re leaving national championship-contending teams out of the playoff, you don’t have the right number. We lived through it, we suffered through it with Florida State, when the field was four.
“I know other schools have suffered for it. Notre Dame was a CFP worthy team last year and you saw what happened to the last team that got invited with Miami.”
The support of the ACC and the Big 12 is not insignificant.
Initially, the debate centered around expansion was confined to the SEC and ESPN, who supported the current 12-team format and no expansion past 16, in order to keep as tight a grip as possible on ESPN’s current monopoly on CFP broadcasts, in which ESPN holds the broadcast rights to the games featuring all 12 teams.
On the flipside, you had the Big 10 and its primary broadcast partner, Fox Sports, as the only other major conference supporting a move to 24.
However, whether it’s due to lingering resentment over being excluded from last year’s playoff, as is the case with Notre Dame, which also supports the move to 24, or the promise of a bigger payday with an expanded playoff field, the move to 24 teams has gained considerable support.
To the point that, as of now, the 24-team format is supported by pretty much everyone except the SEC and ESPN.
In addition to the athletic conferences, the American Football Coaches Association also recently voted in favor of a 24-team playoff.
However, despite the gathering calls for change, any expansion beyond the current format would have to have SEC support.
As it stands, the SEC supports an expansion from 12 to 16 teams, but nothing beyond that. .
“That focus hasn’t changed,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday. “We’re open to the conversation, but there are a lot of ideas out there that have to be supported with analysis and information, not speculation.
“We’re trying to inform that with research. We’ve done that, from our perspective, with 16. We want to understand, through some analytic support, games that matter in an expanded environment and games that might not matter.”
Enticing the SEC to change its stance will require the 24-team proponents to not only show that the expanded field would generate more revenue than the current format. But they would also have to find enough money to offset the considerable $80 million loss the SEC would incur from surrendering their conference championship game. The proposed 24-team format would also eliminate conference championship games.
And of course, ESPN would have to be convinced as well.
“ESPN’s made it clear,” Phillips said. “They want it to stay at 12 or 14, but no more than 16.”
The ACC also has a broadcast deal with ESPN. However, after watching an undefeated Florida State get left out of the CFP a few years ago and watching their partial partner Notre Dame get left out last year, the conference wants to see change.
“Teams that have a legitimate chance to win the national championship are being left out, which means we are missing the mark and don’t have the correct format,” Phillips said. “In addition with school investments at an all-time high across the entire FBS level, there is tremendous pressure on the entire system. As leaders we have a responsibility to ensure we are providing the appropriate format that will allow schools to remain incentivized with a legitimate ability to access the playoff.”
As On3 reports, The current 12-team playoff will continue in future seasons until when/if Sankey and Petitti agree on a new format. There is a December deadline to determine what the format will be in 2027. If the SEC and Big Ten commissioners can’t agree on a 16- or 24-team playoff, the 12-team format will continue in 2027.