College Football Playoff Going to 12 Teams
Let’s get it back to college football.
From Pete Thamel and Heather Dinich at ESPN:
The College Football Playoff’s Board of Managers voted on Friday to expand the CFP to 12 teams in 2026, but is encouraging the sport’s commissioners to try to implement it as soon as 2024, multiple sources told ESPN.
The 11 presidents and chancellors who comprise the CFP’s Board of Managers approved the original 12-team model, which is the six highest-ranked conference champions, and six at-large teams. The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick will meet next week in Dallas to figure out the details.
This was probably inevitable. It’s good for the sport. More high-profile matchups never hurt anyone, and it ensures no snubs. You can argue that teams five through eight aren’t winning it anyway, but there’s less of a margin for snubbery (not a word, I know) if the field is expanded marginally, which is what this is. We’re not going to 68 teams in March Madness with a play-in game.
If they did this last year, in addition to Georgia, Bama, Michigan, and Cincy, you’d have a playoff that included Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Okie State, Baylor, Utah, Michigan State, and Pitt. That would have been sick. I’m down for this. Let’s get it implemented.
Here's what a 12-team College Football Playoff would have looked like if it existed last season 👀🏆
Which matchup would have been the most fun to watch? pic.twitter.com/xnnxtn99kh
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 2, 2022