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The College Football Playoff Committee is set for a two-day meeting to discuss the future 12-team playoff format. The committee is made up of 10 commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director. In order for any changes to the current format to be made, the CFP Committee would have to make a unanimous vote.
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The Current Format
The CFP announced the expansion for the 2024 playoffs last season, introducing the 6+6 model.
The current structure will include the six highest ranked conference champions who will become automatic qualifiers. The next six will be the six best teams who didn’t win their conference.
The thought process was that most power 5 champions had a chance at the playoffs already. It also allowed the opportunity for a Group of Five team to reach the tournament, but this wasn’t very common.
Other Structures Suggested
The meeting on Tuesday will discuss the current format for the CFP and the other possible structures for after the 2025 season.
The first suggested format is the 5+7 model. This format would allow for five conference champions to receive an automatic qualification. The other seven would be at large teams.
The next introduced structure would keep the CFP similar to what we have seen in the past. It would allow for the top 12 ranked teams to earn a playoff spot regardless of conference championship results.
Conference Changes
The new CFP debate comes as many teams are changing conferences.
To start, the ACC will welcome in Stanford, California, and SMU beginning in 2024.
Another huge topic in question is surrounding the Pac-12. At the time that the expansion was announced last year, the Pac-12 only had four teams in it. The biggest problem for the Pac-12 is that NCAA bylaws require for a conference to have at least eight teams. The rule does give the conference two years to figure out how to reach that number. The Pac-12 commissioner, George Kliavkoff will be in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting where the discussion of the current status of the conference will definitely be brought up.
Other Topics to be discussed
The meeting will also address who will take Bill Hancock’s spot as the new executive director after he announced his retirement.
Finally, there will be a new CFP media agreement starting in 2026. Negotiations are expected to begin soon regarding the new contract that is on track to become the biggest in college sports history. The topic in question is related to how the revenue will be divided throughout all of the conferences. The revenue is currently divided in a way that allows Power Five conferences to be given 80% of the annual revenue. The conversation will definitely be discussed during the two-day meeting, but it is unknown what changes will be made to the current structure.
