Larry Scott Suggests Eight-Team Playoff, Idea Denied at Wednesday Meeting
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott reportedly suggested the College Football Playoff expand its field to eight teams for this incredibly unusual season, as first reported Wednesday afternoon by ESPN’s Heather Dinich.
However, CFP executive director Bill Hancock and the management committee did not approve the idea at Wednesday’s meeting. Today was apparently the first time that Scott’s pitch became public.
"They decided that doing that now would be such a significant change, and come with so many challenges, especially given the timing with the season already underway, that they concluded that the best outcome would be to make no changes in the format," Hancock told ESPN. "They will continue to discuss the future, which is just good, responsible business practice, although I must say that dealing with COVID has become everyone's focus now."
Support from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference commissioners, along with Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, would be needed to start any type of change to the format. Regardless, 11 university presidents and chancellors (making up the board of managers) has final say.
The Pac-12 has only had two teams, Oregon and Washington, earn selections to the CFP field since its debut back in 2014. Oregon lost to Ohio State in the national championship game and Washington lost to Alabama in the semifinal.
Per the ESPN report, commissioners also shared practices on Wednesday relating to the pandemic but did not establish any further protocols for determining the four teams.
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