The College Football Playoff will stick with its current four-team model through the next four years after the management committee couldn’t come to a consensus on possible expansion.
The Playoff’s Board of Managers accepted a recommendation by the management committee, which comprises the 10 conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletics director Jacks Swarbrick to continue with the current model through the original deal, which ends in 2025-26.
The move comes after seven months of debate on expanding the postseason model.
A four-person working group comprised of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and Swarbrick presented a 12-team proposal to the committee in June.
The original plan had the six highest-ranked conference champions earning a guaranteed spot into the Playoff, followed by six at-large teams. The four top seeds would get byes and teams seeded 5-12 would play at home sites.
Proponents of the plan pushed back with an eight-team model with automatic qualifiers for the five autonomous conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) and the highest-ranked Group of Five team plus two at-large teams. But a lack of access has deterred consideration of many of the committee members.
Despite early momentum, expansion talks stalled, with several conferences, including the ACC and Big Ten, pushing back on the proposal over player safety, uncertainty surrounding college football due to name, image and likeness legislation and the transfer portal.
“Even though the outcome did not lead to a recommendation for an early expansion before the end of the current 12-year contract, the discussions have been helpful and informative,” said Bill Hancock, executive director of the Playoff. “I am sure they will serve as a useful guide for the Board of Managers and for the Management Committee as we determine what the Playoff will look like beginning in the 2026-2027 season.
“I thank the working group for its hard work that resulted in the 12-team proposal, and the Management Committee for its thorough and diligent job reviewing it and other possible expansion ideas. This has been a long, careful, and detailed process that involved many people considering a complex matter. I am grateful to everyone for their dedication to college football and the detailed and deliberative effort everyone put into the consideration of a different format. I know the four-team event will continue to be successful.”
Wrote Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff in a post on Twitter: “I share the disappointment felt by many college football fans today. I look forward to working collaboratively with other Commissioners to deliver a football playoff format that is more inclusive and balanced.”
The current deal with ESPN pays about $470 million per year, but a 12-team proposed playoff could reportedly be worth $2 billion annually.
According to the Associated Press, the Power Five conferences in the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, Pac-12 and SEC received $67 million each from the Playoff in 2019-20. The other Football Bowl Subdivision conferences shared $92 million.
Those figures would increase dramatically with a new media rights deal, whether exclusively with ESPN, a new network partner or a partnership between several media outlets.
