With CFP still undecided on future format, SEC and Big Ten express doubts in commitment

Almost one month ago, leaders of the College Football Playoff gathered in Houston ahead of the national championship game expecting to adopt a change in format to the expanded 12-team playoff.

However, they left the meeting without a decision, as one conference delayed a vote — another hurdle in what’s been multiple years of similar challenges to find consensus in the CFP governance room.

The latest delay casts more doubt on the future of the playoff beyond 2025, the final year that the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame are contractually bonded together through the CFP’s television deal with media partner ESPN. Though the CFP is in the midst of negotiations with ESPN to extend the deal, there is currently no contractually bound playoff starting in 2026.

In an interview with Yahoo Sports earlier this week, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, for the first time publicly, expressed doubts in their commitment to the future of the CFP if leaders can’t “get right” a litany of issues. It comes on the heels of an announcement Friday that the leagues were forming a joint advisory board to study the future of college athletics.

Asked if he was committed to the CFP beyond 2025, Sankey said, “Yep, but we’ve got a lot to get right. The commitment is we want to see this get right.”

The CFP Management Committee, made up of commissioners from the 10 FBS leagues and Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick, meets on Monday and Tuesday in Dallas for what is expected to be two days of work toward key decisions over the playoff’s long-term future. Sankey and Petitti stopped short of threats or ultimatums related to their inclusion in the CFP, but they each expressed frustration over challenges and delays on the 12-team format as well as the unsettled revenue-distribution model after 2025.

“We have…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/with-cfp-still-undecided-on-future-format-sec-and-big-ten-express-doubts-in-commitment-003557374.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-02-05 00:35:57

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