Remember the wild idea Missouri coach Eli Drinkowitz pitched at SEC media days? Well it may not be as robust at that, but sources are reporting a model where there are 20 campus hosted playoff games!!! The B1G and SEC would get a guaranteed 7 teams, the Big 12 and ACC would get 5.

ESPN.com

Sources: Big Ten ponders jump to 24 or 28 in CFP

While the idea is in the very early stages, the Big Ten's proposal for a 24- or 28-team College Football Playoff eliminates conference title games and offers a large number of auto bids for all four p

This has been floated out there by the B1G. 26 to 28 teams in the PO, but several games would be the final week of the regular season, Playoff Play-in games.

The idea has been scorned by the usual anti-B1G subjects, among other things, as being a money grab.

So, the B1G is roasted blocking expansion to 16 teams using the 5-11 format, criticized for wanting teams competing for the same prize playing the same number of conference games, criticized for wanting AQ spots for the two conferences with the most difficult in-conference slate of games, and will be criticized for any format suggested by the Big Ten.

Beginning with Bill Hancock's warning that more than a two-team playoff would destroy college football, every time the college football playoff expands, the naysayers whine about it watering down the regular season, and more folks tune in to watch CFB, and CFB makes more money.

The B1G's AQ playoff format lacks populist support, but the B1G has the money and the consequent leverage of continuing with a 12-team playoff and continuing to be No. 1 in the CFB financial arms race. if Greg Sankey wants to protect Kentucky's path to a meaningless bowl game, then so be it.

Many in SEC land say the B1G needs to go along with the 5+11 model because it's what everyone wants. The B1G was willing to listen if the ACC and SEC go to 9 conference games. Sankey originally agreed, but he was told by SEC coaches that 9 games was impossible.

Sankey went back and said no to the 9 games, but still wants the B1G to agree to the 5+11 model. SEC people are putting the potential estimated 6 to 10 million dollar loss if no expansion is ratified in time for next year. It's stupid business for Pettiti to throw away that amount of money, but that isn't lost money because it's never been there. It's like saying you will buy stock and it will double it's value by your estimations. That's not money in your pocket, it's figurative bookkeeping.

I'm tired of these games by the SEC, it's pure cowardice to say one extra game is impossible. I like what the B1G is doing and see this proposition as a counter by saying if the SEC doesn't agree with this expansion than it's poor business because of all that lost future revenue..

FIVE spots each for the Big-12, and ACC?

REALLY?

Bartering strategy; start extreme to make sure you end up where you want to be at, 11+5

Going to be honest.

A 24 or 28 team play off sounds awful! I don't care how many autobids or whatever, the tournament field is too big for football.

We've already seen and talked about how the new expanded playoff format has diminished the importance of the regular season.

Afterall Ohio State was a 2 loss team that won the national championship and in any of the old formats playoff or BCS they wouldn't have made the national title game with two losses.

Expanding the playoff into 3 or maybe even 4 loss teams feels excessive and diminishes the prestige of making the playoff.

Might as well make the whole season basically one big playoff. Build all conferences around a group stage mini tournaments and take the winners of those groups into a bigger conference pool.

A 16 team conference (SEC) would have 4 groups and then there's a winner's bracket and some tiered loser's brackets that allow a play in route as it basically becomes double elimination at that point.

This could be interesting and fun. I watch some StarCraft 2 tournaments and they do a group format into a double elimination tournament all the time. It's fun.

But it isn't college football.

46 minutes ago, David Marsh said:

Going to be honest.

A 24 or 28 team play off sounds awful! I don't care how many autobids or whatever, the tournament field is too big for football.

We've already seen and talked about how the new expanded playoff format has diminished the importance of the regular season.

Afterall Ohio State was a 2 loss team that won the national championship and in any of the old formats playoff or BCS they wouldn't have made the national title game with two losses.

Expanding the playoff into 3 or maybe even 4 loss teams feels excessive and diminishes the prestige of making the playoff.

Might as well make the whole season basically one big playoff. Build all conferences around a group stage mini tournaments and take the winners of those groups into a bigger conference pool.

A 16 team conference (SEC) would have 4 groups and then there's a winner's bracket and some tiered loser's brackets that allow a play in route as it basically becomes double elimination at that point.

This could be interesting and fun. I watch some StarCraft 2 tournaments and they do a group format into a double elimination tournament all the time. It's fun.

But it isn't college football.

David, I understand your thoughts on playoff expansion. However, more people watched college football in 2024-25 than in the history of the sport. The putative value of college football programs is at an all-time high, with private equity firms trying to get a foot in the door.

College football playoffs managed by the NCAA at the FCS, D2, and D3 levels all have a 24-team field. The same for the NAIA college football playoff.

If the NCAA, from the advent of bowl games, had been in charge of the college football postseason, Division 1, FBS, would have a 24-team playoff. We would also likely have a 10-game regular season and far less conference expansion and retraction.

Look at the CBB tournament and consider the broadcast revenue the NCAA would have brought in and distributed over the decades if it had managed the Big Boys football tournament. Also, if the CFB committee operated like the CBB committee and the process was not owned by Disney/ESPN, there would be disappointment, no doubt, but also a disclosure of the metrics used when the committee made its at-large and seeding decisions.

Again, I understand the negative reaction to doubling the size of the FBS playoff. The same reaction we heard when the BCS went to a four-team playoff: "This will destroy the regular season!" Didn't happen.

If possible, I'd go back to having four bowl games featuring college football's best of the best, football played in the daytime, ending the season on January 1st, not anointing high school players as saviors of a given program, and a Pac-8 or Pac-10 conference with round robin in conference play. Not happening.

Meanwhile, can we please just Play Ball and have actual games to discuss?

Football playoffs at the lower levels are a completely different economic model. Huge money for media contracts at the D1 level.

Making any decisions by committee is an agonizing way of making decisions. Just land on something and modify when needed.

Most D3 football programs do not generate enough revenue to cover the costs of simply having a football team. Although hosting a playoff can generate additional revenue for local restaurants, bars, and hotels.

The gap between the level of play for a team ranked 24th compared to the top 4 in D1 is generally huge. Can the team seeded 24th win a game? Sure they can win a game, are they going to win the championship?

Nope.

Football's value is a result of its scarcity. Games matter.

The more they proliferate, the less they matter. They less they matter, the less we will watch.

That proposal, even if offered for bargaining purposes, is like saying that because we like Christmas, it ought to last for six months.

3 hours ago, Triphibius said:

Football's value is a result of its scarcity. Games matter.

The more they proliferate, the less they matter. They less they matter, the less we will watch.

That proposal, even if offered for bargaining purposes, is like saying that because we like Christmas, it ought to last for six months.

I understand and, of course, respect your POV.

Yet, the NFL that I watched in the 1960s played 12 games a season. Today, the NFL plays 17 regular-season games a season, which is predicted to soon go to 18 games. The number of NFL teams has more than doubled since the 1960s, and the viewership numbers continue to climb.

In 1960, my father's friend, Billy Sullivan, bought the Boston Patriots franchise for $25,000.00 (not a typo.) Today, the franchise is worth an estimated 7.5 to 10 billion dollars, which, based on the Celtics selling for $6 billion, is likely on the low side.

Of course, there has been population growth; a third more people reside in the USA than when I was growing up, but many more people watch college football today than when far fewer regular-season games and postseason games were played. People tune in to watch games not only on Saturday, but every day of the week.

Compare the broadcast revenue for college football in 1960 to today's media deals. Come 2030, I expect the B1G media deal will bring in more revenue than today's once-unheard-of revenues.

“Sankey went back and said no to the 9 games, but still wants the B1G to agree to the 5+11 model.”

If Tony is smart, he will not budge and leave it at 12 teams until the ACC and SEC agree to go to 9 conference games. Without extra autobids and the current conference schedule discrepancy, the BIG is at a huge disadvantage.

That extra $8M would have ended up mostly in the SECs pockets last year. With the BIG getting essentially nothing and Illinois getting hosed.

I hope Tony is smart and just sits on his hands. The SEC by far has the most to lose in the current format, so just hang out and make them suffer.

Tony really wants that play in weekend, I think that's the carrot he's eyeing. Plus he pitched an annual B1G vs SEC in season agreement like there is in basketball. As a viewer I could go for that. We might even get that Oregon vs Alabama matchup everyone wanted in the 2010's.

As Jon Wilner asks, 'Was this leaked to take some of the heat off of Michigan?'

I ask, was this leaked to make an AQ 16-team PO format look better?

20 on campus PO games are enticing, but overall, this proposal makes little or no sense, and I think Tony Petitti knows that this is the case.

But for the 'political concerns, ' go to 16 teams, no automatic qualifiers, no separate champ game Saturday, with the CFB PO committee operating like the CBB committee and no byes.

Otherwise, with changes to how the CFB committee operates and losing the champ game weekend and a shorter bye period, 12 is enough.

With apologies to Will, can we leave Inglorious and Much Ado About Nothing Summer, and Play Ball!

Everybody's Doing It! So, Watch Out!

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