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By Jett Hatch
Contributing Sports Writer
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The SEC wants 16 teams, but the Big Ten wants 24. What's going to give?
College football’s postseason is once again at the center of one of the sport’s biggest debates: how big should the College Football Playoff (CFP) be? After increasing the field from four teams to 12 starting with the 2024 season, discussions are now underway about expanding even further, potentially to 16 teams, or in some proposals, to 24 teams. But the road to a new format isn’t straightforward.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is advocating for a 16-team playoff, while Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti wants a 24-team playoff.
Read More on NCAA
The Big Ten has proposed to expand the College Football Playoff to 16 if it expands to 24 teams within three years, according to Brandon Marcello at CBS Sports.
Sankey's proposal for a 16-team playoff is five automatic qualifiers (four for the Power Four conference champions and one for the highest ranked Group of Six champion) and 11 at-large spots, but he wants that to be the format for the foreseeable future.
Petitti's proposal would expand the playoff to 16 teams using Sankey's proposal for three years and then expanding it to 24 teams with one automatic qualifier going to the highest ranked Group of Six champion and 23 at-large spots.
The Big Ten originally wanted a 24- or 28-team playoff with automatic qualifiers that would give the SEC and Big Ten up to seven automatic spots, while the ACC and Big 12 get five and the Group of Six gets two with two at-large spots.
That has since been whittled down to just 24 teams and only one automatic qualifying spot going to the highest ranked group of six champion with the other 23 spots being at-large.
With the Jan. 23 deadline looming, the future of the College Football Playoff may come down to a simple question: is the sport better served by measured growth or by maximum inclusion? Over the next week, the sport’s power brokers will decide — and whatever they choose will reshape Saturdays for a generation.
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