College Football Playoff board approves expanded format with 12 teams

September 3, 2022 1:22 PM

The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams after the Board of Managers approved expansion by an unanimous vote on Friday, the group that oversees the postseason system announced.

The format will feature the six highest-ranked conference champions as automatic entries -- likely the five Power 5 champions (SEC, B1G, ACC, Pac-12, and Big 12) plus a single champion from the Group of 5 -- and six at-large teams, all selected by the CFP selection committee. The four highest-ranked teams will receive a bye, and the next four highest-ranked teams will host home games in December (or at alternate sites, at the host schools' discretion). The six quarter- and semifinal games will likely remain at the Rose, Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, and Sugar Bowls, and the championship will continue to be at a neutral site selected year-by-year (like the Super Bowl). The new system will start no later than the 2026 season, but may start as soon as 2024.

posted by Etrigan (14 comments total)

TV money’s a helluva drug.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:01 PM on September 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

As someone who follows the FCS, I think this will be huge. The FCS tournament is fantastic fun. Yes, TV is going to lather the NCAA with money but for the fans (and the, um, gambling community) it will be exciting.
posted by Ber at 2:35 PM on September 3, 2022

Pay the players.
posted by thecaddy at 2:44 PM on September 3, 2022 [21 favorites]

The Road For More Money!
posted by pthomas745 at 3:01 PM on September 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

With the planned setup, it's nice that a non-power 5 team is guaranteed to get in, but I don't think "Power 5" will be a meaningful description by the time it actually happens.
posted by LionIndex at 4:21 PM on September 3, 2022

Let me guess: zero of these playoff games will be on network TV? Because as a cord cutter it’s already hard enough to follow a college team when you aren’t in the home market, and moving the games to services like ESPN that won’t offer you a way to watch if you don’t also pay for cable is just hostile to fans.
posted by caution live frogs at 4:39 PM on September 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Don't worry, you also won't be able to afford tickets if the game is played in your area!
posted by wenestvedt at 5:47 PM on September 3, 2022 [5 favorites]

With the planned setup, it's nice that a non-power 5 team is guaranteed to get in, but I don't think "Power 5" will be a meaningful description by the time it actually happens.

The big colleges still need the NCAA for all the other sports including basketball and they need some group to “force” them not to pay the players directly, so the 6th (and likely 5th when the Big 12/PAC situation works out) is so they don’t sue or just kick them out of the NCAA.
posted by jmauro at 5:59 PM on September 3, 2022

WOLVERINES!
posted by clavdivs at 6:10 PM on September 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Pay for the players and a lifelong gold standard health insurance policy covering physical and mental health. I believe that should be the standard for all college athletes and junior hockey players in Canada too, all of whom labour for free while many many people make billions on their backs.
posted by salishsea at 8:30 PM on September 3, 2022 [4 favorites]

Can we stop pretending now that college football isn't a professional sport and start paying the players accordingly?
posted by tommasz at 7:11 AM on September 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

Forget the chatter about college football business and focus on the games
(Washington Post gift link)

Now comes the part when the outrageous zaniness of college football games — you know, sports — tries to outpace the droning chatter about mergers and acquisitions and realignment and business, business, business — you know, tedium. How did Saturday do?
...
It had Iowa nudging past a gutty band of Jackrabbits visiting from South Dakota State in that crazy-rare 7-3 finish derived from a 3-3 tie. [Field goal and two safeties.] It had North Carolina nudging past a storied bunch of Mountaineers at Appalachian State in that crazy-rare 40-22 score, with the 40-22 meaning only the fourth quarter.

UNC's more of a basketball school, so it makes sense the game had a basketball final score. Iowa and South Dakota punted a combined 21 times for 936 yards.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:52 AM on September 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

Can we stop pretending now that college football isn't a professional sport and start paying the players accordingly?

Based on the highlights I posted, assumes professionalism not in evidence.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:53 AM on September 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

Lolololol, Iowa winning 7-3 with 2 safeties is the most Kinnick thing possible.

I enjoy college football but don't care about the playoffs, to be honest. I like the conference play and strange conference rivalry games/trophies and the weird FCS upsets (sorry you lost your home opener to William & Mary, Charlotte...).
posted by the primroses were over at 8:29 AM on September 5, 2022