Just one year into the 12-team College Football Playoff, one of the two most powerful conferences apparently wants to double the size of the field.
The Big Ten has begun circulating the idea of a 24 or 28-team College Football Playoff, Pete Thamel of ESPN was first to report Saturday, a format that under the 28-team model would include 24 automatic bids between the “Power Four” conferences — seven each for the Big Ten and SEC and five each for the ACC and Big 12.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti is said to have broached the idea to the conference’s athletic directors this past week. While some reports said it has not yet been presented to the other conferences, Ross Dellinger of Yahoo Sports reported Saturday that Petitti spoke by phone to his SEC counterpart Greg Sankey to “exchange thoughts on the idea” Friday.
The format would be facilitated by eliminating the conference championship games. According to Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports, the playoff would begin that weekend instead.
The idea is said to be in the early stages, and not at all guaranteed to be considered in any depth, with Dellinger reporting that a “high-level source” described it not as half-baked, but “barely baked.”
The size of the proposed field is far in excess of what has been discussed previously, an expansion from 12 to 16 teams. It would also give the CFP, which consisted of four teams just two years ago, more playoff teams than any of the major pro sports — even the NBA has only 20 if one includes the Play-in Tournament. (The CFP would still pale in comparison to the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, which for the time being will remain at 68 teams.)
The Big Ten has also been advocating for a 16-team field that would include 12 guaranteed slots for the “Power Four” (including four for itself), an idea that is still “under consideration” by the conference, per Marcello.
As the only major conference without an ESPN deal — indeed, the only major conference in which ESPN is not the “A” or sole partner — the Big Ten is in a perhaps unique position relative to the playoff. ESPN owns exclusive rights to the event, sublicensing some games to TNT Sports, meaning that the Big Ten rights partners Fox Sports, NBC and CBS annually rotate just a single game with direct playoff implications — the Big Ten Championship.
According to sources cited by Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated earlier this summer, Petitti is said to have “made assurances” to those broadcast partners that the conference will add what would ultimately serve as playoff play-in games. (The Big Ten denied that report.) In order to ensure all three broadcasters have a play-in game each year, the conference would need at least four guaranteed spots in the playoff.
But a 24 or 28-team model would seemingly eliminate any chance of creating new standalone play-in games, which under the 16-team model would take place over conference championship weekend. Short of ESPN having more games to potentially sublicense, it is hard to see how a 24 or 28-team model would benefit the Big Ten rights holders.
