What was dreaded by many but widely expected to happen regardless became reality on Monday.
The College Football Playoff announced that it’s expanding the playoff from 12 to 24 teams. The deal with ESPN as its broadcast partner is reportedly valued at nearly $1.7 billion over five years.
The expanded playoff will begin in 2027. It will eliminate long-established conference championship games in the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.
Playoff expansion comes with myriad concerns regarding its impact on the tradition-laden sport, most notably that it will further dilute the stakes of the regular season while adding early-round playoff matchups that don’t project as compelling or competitive. For teams that advance through the playoff, players will take on further injury risk with each ensuing game.
CFP boss: ‘We’re aware of fan sentiment’
CFP executive director Rich Clark was asked about those concerns during a news conference Monday announcing the expanded playoff. He acknowledged that he and the CFP committee were aware of them. They opted to move forward with the lucrative expansion regardless.
“We’re aware of the fan sentiment and that many fans aren’t in favor of expansion, but that was certainly weighed into the decision,” Clark said, per Tony Gerdeman of Buckeye Insiders. “It was considered, but ultimately, we just need to make a spectacular playoff.
“The CFP has a responsibility to our fans. They’re the lifeblood of college football, and we owe it to them to make this great, and that really is our intent. But we appreciate our fans.
“We did take into account their sentiment, and that was rolled into this decision, but we decided to move forward with it.”
In short: We heard your concerns. We considered them. We moved forward in conflict with and in spite of them.
Nick Saban among expansion detractors
Nick Saban gave voice to those concerns last week during an appearance on the “New Heights” podcast.
The former Alabama coach who won seven national championships with the Crimson Tide and LSU now works as an analyst for “College GameDay” on ESPN. He was candid with his criticism of expansion despite the obvious benefit of the new format to his employer.
“There’s not 24 teams in the country that can win the national championship,” Saban said. “So, what is the reason to actually do it? … What you’re giving up, which is what I hate to see, is, you know, the SEC championship game, playing in the SEC championship was a big thing to our players, it was a big thing to our fans. It was a tradition, and it was a great venue.
“I mean, there’s only two teams that can play in a national championship, but more teams can play in those kind of championship games, and there’s a lot of pride in winning the conference championship. … And we’re going to give that up to have an extra game where the 24th team is going to play the ninth-best team. …
“I think it minimizes the importance of the season.”
Saban’s concerns come from his perspective as a longtime coach in the SEC. They’re a snapshot of the concerns across the game about an expanded playoff that few called for beyond the people in power who stand to benefit from it financially.
Saban also expressed concern that the expanded schedule presents “too many games for college football players to play” and skepticism that the financial benefit would outweigh the losses of conference championship games.
Those concerns were heard and acknowledged by the CFP committee, as Clark made clear on Monday. Also made clear by Clark: The CFP doesn’t care.
