What to know about modified College Football Playoff and what’s coming next

The 12-team College Football Playoff evolved before it ever debuted.

The expanded playoff that’s set to launch this season originally had been devised as a 6+6 format. That is, automatic bids for the six-best conference champions, plus six at-large bids.

But, after that format got approved, realignment crippled the Pac-12.

So, on Tuesday, the CFP Board of Managers voted to change the playoff to a 5+7 format – automatic bids for the five-best conference champions, plus seven at-large bids. The CFP contract lasts another two seasons. For 2026 and beyond, the playoff is a blank slate, with no approved format.

On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams react to this modified 12-team playoff format and speculate as to what might be in store for the playoff beginning with the ’26 season.

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This much seems likely: SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey will have an influential voice in shaping the playoff’s future, just as he swung a big stick in determining this 12-team playoff format.

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Here’s some reaction to this 5+7 format:

ADAMS: This is another reminder of the Pac-12’s demise. Realignment did more than reshape conference affiliations. It reshaped the playoff. This format change became inevitable after the Pac-12 became the Pac-2. This additional at-large bid is good for the SEC and perhaps the Big Ten, too. Considering the SEC will earn one automatic bid and now be eligible for as many as seven at-large bids, I think it’s reasonable to believe five SEC teams will qualify for the playoff this…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/know-modified-college-football-playoff-120633370.html

Author : The Tennessean

Publish date : 2024-02-21 12:06:33

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