CFP may withhold added revenue from SMU despite Power Five move

HOUSTON — Inside a hotel board room Monday, a few hours before Washington meets Michigan in the national championship game, leaders of the College Football Playoff will gather to rubber-stamp a few important items.

They are expected to formally approve format changes to the expanded playoff in light of the dissolution of the Pac-12, moving to what’s termed a “5+7” format that features five automatic qualifying spots for conference champions and seven at-large spots for the next highest-ranked teams (the previous format was a 6+6). And they are also expected to adopt a policy requiring a league to have eight members to be eligible to earn an automatic qualifying spot in the playoff.

But there is something else on the docket. It involves a school located just 250 miles from here.

SMU, the latest Group of Five program to elevate to the Power Five next year with its jump to the ACC, is at the heart of a CFP money fight.

In the past, schools making the jump from Group of Five to Power Five also saw a leap in their distribution from the College Football Playoff. The difference in annual payout between G5 teams ($1 million) and P5 teams ($6 million) is substantial.

However, after a discussion among CFP commissioners on Nov. 9, SMU did not garner the necessary support for additional revenue distribution. The issue has now been shifted to the commissioners’ corresponding presidents on the CFP Board of Managers, the playoff’s highest governing body made up of a school president from each FBS conference and Notre Dame.

Multiple conference commissioners declined comment on the matter as well as CFP executive director Bill Hancock. In a brief interview with Yahoo Sports, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips expressed disappointment on the issue but declined to elaborate on the details. SMU athletic director Rick Hart declined…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-cfp-may-withhold-added-revenue-from-smu-despite-power-five-move-145230576.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-01-05 14:52:30

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