KEY POINTS:
- This 12-team playoff is set to be a dream. Now, if only the Big Ten and SEC would resist the urge to manipulate the system for their gain.
- Leaders from both conferences will meet in Nashville next week, with the future of the College Football Playoff (CFP) on the agenda.
- Increasing the number of automatic bids for these conferences would undermine the integrity of the postseason.
It’s rare when a group of self-serving leaders come together to make a decision that’s both brilliant and fair. Yet that day came in December 2022, when the CFP managers board approved a 12-team format that offered a balanced and inclusive structure. This plan maintains the significance of the regular season, rewards conference champions, and increases engagement, participation, and access to the playoff.
Five bids are reserved for conference champions, while seven more are available through at-large selections. It’s a fantastic system.
Now, as we enter the second month of this season — the first with the expanded playoff — more than 30 teams from various conferences still have realistic playoff aspirations.
A major roadblock is approaching: this playoff format is only locked in for this season and the next. Beyond that, all we know is the playoff will continue with no fewer than 12 teams—possibly more, but not less.
Crucially, how the playoff bids are distributed could change after the 2025 season.
The Big Ten, SEC, and ESPN will have a huge influence on the future of the playoffs. That’s unsettling. These powerhouses tend to do what powerhouses do: serve themselves, grab all the prime benefits, and leave scraps for the rest.
So when Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC boss Greg Sankey meet next week, I wouldn’t trust them to act in the best interest of the Big 12, ACC, or college football as a whole. These men are ruthless and focused on their own interests, and they could jeopardize this promising 12-team playoff before we even see how it works.
Petitti and Sankey have the potential to sabotage this playoff system. Their camaraderie is a bit too cozy for my taste. Past leaders from these power leagues often clashed, and that tension was healthy—it provided checks and balances.
If they unite, the College Football Playoff (CFP) could become a de facto Big Ten-SEC Invitational. They wouldn’t formally break away from the CFP, but they could hijack it from within.
Why create a separate system when they can stay within the current one and impose their rules on everyone else?
What might this power grab look like?
According to ESPN, unnamed sources suggest that the Big Ten and SEC may push for a playoff format that guarantees each conference four automatic bids. That would be a joke.
There’s nothing wrong with the SEC and Big Ten earning the most playoff bids in any given year—they have plenty of strong programs. But fairness dictates they should earn those spots through competition, like everyone else, rather than being granted a disproportionate share ahead of time.
Let’s hope this 4+4 proposal is just a trial balloon. If so, I’d gladly aim and shoot it down, because this kind of flex would undermine the beautifully constructed playoff that took years to develop.
Guaranteeing that the SEC and Big Ten get the most playoff bids before a single game is played would be blatant rigging.
Can’t we at least try the 12-team format first?
If expanding the playoff from 12 to 14 teams down the line makes sense, so be it. More games mean more revenue, which I get. But reserving a playoff spot for a fourth-place finisher in a conference before the season starts? That’s absurd.
It would be like the NFL pre-determining that the AFC gets 10 playoff spots and the NFC only gets six. The NFL would never do that, because its postseason isn’t run by individual conferences.
College football is enjoying a surge in popularity. The Georgia-Alabama game last Saturday attracted 12 million viewers, making it the most-watched primetime college football game since 2017.
This 12-team format, with its balance of automatic and at-large bids, excites fans who’ve never before had a shot at the playoff. Fans are emotionally and financially invested—everyone is betting on games.
If there’s one surefire way to disrupt this momentum, it’s for two men in suits to rig the postseason.
The worst part is, it’s completely unnecessary.
The SEC and Big Ten should have no trouble qualifying on merit. Come December, they’re likely to claim most of the at-large bids anyway.
But for now, powerbrokers from two conferences are headed into a meeting, and the whole thing already stinks.
When self-interested leaders walk into a room, don’t expect them to emerge with a decision that’s fair to anyone but themselves.
