After ACC and others throw support behind 24-team CFP, the ball is now in the SEC's court
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. In January, the powers that be in college athletics aligned behind a 16-team playoff field except for one, the Big Ten.Less than five months later, the powers that be have aligned behind a different format, a 24-team model except for one, the SEC.Theres a rub, though: The SEC and Big Ten must both agree on a format to adopt a change.All of the other FBS conferences granted authority over future format to the two leagues in an agreement struck in March 2024 as a way to appease them (and keep them from breaking away to start their own postseason). For roughly a year now, the two conferences have been at odds on a variety of issues, most notably playoff expansion.What does it mean now that the other powers that be the ACC, Big 12 and Notre Dame are on board with 24? It means that the CFPs media consultants are exploring just how much additional revenue from media entities will come with adding 12 teams, 12 games and one round to the playoff.That work started two weeks ago and is expected to culminate in June at an in-person meeting among CFP decision-makers in Denver. At the center of the decision is whether or not a 24-team field will generate enough additional revenue to recoup the estimated $250 million that will be lost with the elimination of the FBS conference championship games.Greg Sankey and the SEC are now all that stands in the way of a postseason expansion to 24 teams. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / REUTERSThe SECs title game is worth as much as $100 million, the Big Ten around $75 million, and the ACC and Big 12 games are each at or north of $50 million, according to the leagues estimations.Are an additional 12 games mostly first-round games pitting three- and four-loss teams worth that much?In his news conference Wednesday after annual ACC spring meetings, Phillips announced whats been known for a few weeks: His athletic directors and coaches want a 24-team playoff. The rationale is two-fold. The field should be expanded to (1) include bubble teams that are deserving to compete in a national championship, and (2) the access should expand to meet the increased investment from schools into their football rosters/programs.When youre leaving national championship-contending teams out of the playoff, you dont have the right number, Phillips said. We lived through it, we suffered through it with Florida State, when the field was four.One thing Phillips revealed and something reported in this story from Yahoo Sports last month is that ESPN, the CFPs sole media partner, is against any expansion beyond 16 teams.In a way, it was a jarring public revelation from a sitting conference commissioner.ESPNs influence and role in the playoff cannot be overstated. It is the funding mechanism. The network pays $1.3 billion annually as part of an agreement to televise the playoff through 2031 (though ESPN has sublicensed nearly half of the remaining games to TNT, something probably not appreciated by CFP decision-makers).Two years ago, during a bidding process for the new six-year television contract, ESPN emerged as the top bidder, and it wasnt particularly close, those with knowledge say.In fact, as part of the package, ESPN the SECs sole media partner holds ownership over the playoff as long as the field doesnt expand beyond 14 teams, perhaps a reason the media company doesnt want a significantly expanded postseason.On the other side is Fox, whose CEO, Eric Shanks, has been a public proponent of a 24-team field. The Big Tens primary media partner is Fox.But this playoff push goes beyond media executives and TV partners.Those here this week stressed a need, in general, for more access given football roster values that are soaring well over $30 million. And most coaches are in favor of eliminating conference championship games that have been devalued in the 12-team postseason (after all, the title game has become only another difficult conference game before a grueling playoff begins). During a joint meeting of athletic directors and head football coaches on Wednesday, Phillips called on each school representative to reveal their position 16 or 24? And though many within the room described a consensus and unanimity among the group, Miami coach Mario Cristobal, in a podcast interview this week, revealed another view: I'm not for the 24-team thing. That's a lot. Why play a regular season then? And I'm certainly not for automatic bids.There are repercussions maybe adverse consequences to growing the field by so many teams. In the most current proposal under discussion, a 24-team field would be determined through the CFP selection committees rankings (plus one Group of Six automatic bid if it is outside the poll). The top eight seeds would receive a bye into a second round that, like the first round, would be played at the better seeds campus. Seeds No. 9-24 would meet one another in the opening weekend.One of the consequences surrounds the future of those bowls that are not tethered to the CFPs six-bowl rotation to host a quarterfinal and semifinal.What happens to the Gator Bowl, the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Alamo, Houston, etc?We have to understand what this does, Phillips said when asked directly about the bowl impact. Theres been no vote on this thing. We asked the CFP, with their TV consultant, to run 16 and 24. We dont have all the information. It may come back and say, Boy that 16 may look better!The calendar is tricky too and so is the exclusive four-hour window that Army-Navy commands. That game almost certainly has to move up in a 24-team playoff.None of this can happen without the SECs support, of course. League coaches, athletic directors and presidents gather for their own annual conference meetings May 26-28 near Destin, Florida. Big Ten meetings unfold next week near Los Angeles and Big 12 is the last group to meet at the end of the month.This week, in ACC Land, the league publicly swung its support behind 24. So did Notre Dames athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, a member of the CFP governance committee, and the Big 12 too.The balls in the SECs court.
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