A 12-Team National Playoff Approved; It Should Help Pac-12
The move the Pac-12 (or Pac-10) has been anxiously awaiting took place on Friday, when the College Football Playoff's board of managers unanimously voted to expand the CFP to 12 teams in 2026, while urging that it be put in place by 2024.
The six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams would be involved in the new playoff format, which gives the Pac-12 – or whatever the conference is called in a few years – a direct entry into the College Football Playoff. The Pac-12 has not had a team in the four-team CFP since 2017, and is not expected to have a team in the national championship playoff this year, although Utah and USC are given outside chances to make it.
There are currently five so-called power conferences -- SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 – and five other FBS conferences – American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt. So the Pac-12 champion could end up being ranked behind the conference champ of all the other four power-five conferences as well as one of the lesser conference champions and still get invited to the 12-team College Football playoff.
The Pac-12 released this statement:
The Pac-12 is strongly in favor of CFP expansion and welcomes the decision of the CFP Board. CFP expansion will provide increased access and excitement and is the right thing for our student-athletes and fans. We look forward to working with our fellow conferences to finalize the important elements of an expanded CFP in order to launch as soon practicable.
The question now is whether there will be a Pac-12 or Pac-10 conference when the 12-team playoff gets underway. USC and UCLA are scheduled to leave the Pac-12 prior to the 2024 season, and there is uncertainty as to whether the Pac-12 will expand, stand pat or fold entirely. This vote also might effect whether current Pac-12 members stay in the conference or seek to join another conference.
If the 12-team format is implemented as soon as 2024, it could have an effect on whether the Pac-12 seeks expansion or will survive at all.
It was a group of college presidents who got the 12-team format approved. The board's 11 presidents and chancellors approved the original 12-team model, which was made public a year ago.
A number of issues have yet to be resolved, including the year the playoff will go into effect and where the games will be played.
The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick will meet next Thursday to begin discussions on whether it’s possible to begin a 12-team playoff as early as 2024 and resolve other issues.
In the new format, the four highest-ranked conference champions will get the top four seeds and a first-round bye. The other eight teams will play each other in first-round games at sites to be determined. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in bowl games, and the national championship game will be played at a neutral site.
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Cover photo by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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