[Sly Fox]

It is apparently gaining momentum:

With College Football Playoff change looming, a 12-team model leads the way

Pete Thamel
Mon, June 7, 2021, 11:39 PM

The inevitability of the College Football Playoff expanding has been embraced around every corner of the sport. From the academic ivory towers to the athletic departments to the locker room, an evolution of some type has long been an expectation.

The next three weeks offer a critical period in charting what the future of the College Football Playoff will look like. A pair of CFP meetings are expected to decide a specific recommendation, with a final decision, details and television contract determined later in the fall.

Yahoo Sports spoke to more than a dozen stakeholders Monday on every side of the playoff decision – university officials, athletic directors, media executives and others around college sports. Amid those conversations, a surprise emerged — officials on campuses, in conference offices and in the television world have expressed an openness toward a 12-team playoff as the most likely result.

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On the upside, this would like mean an auto bid for the highest ranked G5. The bad news is that we aren't considered G5 as an indy. But we would have Notre Dame lobbying on behalf of Indy inclusion and they obviously have some sway.

[Ill flame]

I would be shocked if it's any more than 8 teams so 12 would be even better. With there being significantly more independents since the CFP was created there a bigger incentive to take a hard stance for/against independent schools. I know there are high rankings officials that despise that Notre Dame can make it to a playoff or NY6 bowl without winning a conference and want to force them to join a conference.

[TH Spangler]

https://www.si.com/.amp/college/2021/06 ... e-schedule

[thepostman]

Should get some more info very soon on this

[thepostman]

I love this idea so much! 6 highest ranking conference champion means that the AAC should be a lock to get a bid almost every year. The fact that the 1st round will be hosted on campuses is pretty cool too.

[thepostman]

College Football Playoff to consider proposal for expansion to 12-team format

Under the proposal for a 12-team format, the four highest-ranked conference champions would be seeded 1-4 and receive a first-round bye. Teams 5-12 would play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team. The quarterfinals and semifinals would be played in bowl games, and the national championship game would remain at a neutral site.

The first-round games would take place on campus sometime during the two-week period following conference championship games. The quarterfinals would be played on Jan. 1 -- or Jan. 2 when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday -- and on an adjacent day.

Under this proposal, Notre Dame and other independents would not be eligible for a bye because they cannot win a conference title.

[Ill flame]

With there being a conference worth of independent schools I would love for Notre Dame to throw some weight around and have the 2 highest ranked independents play in a "conference championship" game with an automatic berth in the CFP.

In no way would this ever happen and Notre Dame would be guaranteeing themselves a spot in the tournament almost every year but at least it would give the other independents a path.

[LUOrange]

I'd like a 16 team playoff with all 10 conference champs and 6 at-larges, with seeding and at-larges determined by rankings. Although the NCAA has no interest in playing fair with FBS football, this would be the most fair and bring FBS more in line with all of the other sports and divisions in that all conferences are given a bid and opportunity to compete for the national championship. In theory, the P5 should be happy with this because 90%+ of the time the at-large spots are going to Notre dame and the P5.

The 12 team option, is the next best thing. Although, I'd prefer 10 conference champs and 2 at-larges. What's proposed is certainly better than the 4 team nonsense that only benefits the elites of the elites. However, it's just an extension of what we have now, which is the AAC's P6 boast, because the AAC almost always gets the NY6 Bowl, and they will almost always get the G5 playoff spot. But again, I still like their proposal as we have a theoretical shot at a bid or at least better bowl games. But also our national champ won't always be Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, or Oklahoma.

Other than including all conference champs, the only other change I'd do is play all of the Bowl games before New Years and the playoffs after New Years, I'd do this in what their proposing now as well.

[TH Spangler]

https://theathletic.com/2644891/2021/06 ... ormat/?amp

[LUGrad2000]

The more I am reading about the change to 12, the more I like it. Does this give us a path to the 12 team playoff. Yes it does. We would have to go undefeated and have some help. Miniscule chance? Yes. But a chance? Yes. Does this possibility pose a challenge to keep Freeze here longer? Maybe. Could he stay and build a once in a lifetime team? Maybe. Do we have the money and resources? I have no idea if they are willing to spend what is required to win at that level. Will this up the level of commitment to spend to win at other G5 schools? I think so. Does being independent hurt us here? I don't think so. We would not be required to win a conference championship with the 6 at-large spots. Take this year for example: if we win all 12 games, would that get us in? We would have wins against Ole Miss , Louisiana, Army, Syracuse. Decent, but not earth shattering. Think about how fun the last two home games would be if we were undefeated at that point. If we had a loss, then we would not deserve a spot.

[tyndal23]

I love it. Great for college football.

[tyndal23]

The more I am reading about the change to 12, the more I like it. Does this give us a path to the 12 team playoff. Yes it does. We would have to go undefeated and have some help. Miniscule chance? Yes. But a chance? Yes. Does this possibility pose a challenge to keep Freeze here longer? Maybe. Could he stay and build a once in a lifetime team? Maybe. Do we have the money and resources? I have no idea if they are willing to spend what is required to win at that level. Will this up the level of commitment to spend to win at other G5 schools? I think so. Does being independent hurt us here? I don't think so. We would not be required to win a conference championship with the 6 at-large spots. Take this year for example: if we win all 12 games, would that get us in? We would have wins against Ole Miss , Louisiana, Army, Syracuse. Decent, but not earth shattering. Think about how fun the last two home games would be if we were undefeated at that point. If we had a loss, then we would not deserve a spot.

The good news is I can now shut up about scheduling. It will all play out and AD Prez and fans will see what formula works. I think in our situation FCS games have to be eliminated, one year, an undefeated two FBS schedule might get us in, ( if we beat 3 really top tier G5 and have style points and there are a lot of 3 loss P5 teams), another year, 4 FBS wins won’t be enough due to their W-L column. What will be the magic # of P5 games on schedule to rank us high enough by committee and more importantly get us the recruits to actually win the P5 and tough G5. The iron ceiling has been broken and 12 teams opens tHe door for a lot of scenarios, breaks the crappy bowl model. Do we use our assets and national appeal to maximize and in what manner? A lot depends on the President. Hopefully Jonathon is a FB fan and uses his weight like JR would have for sports when weighing in on new hire for Prez. Ian - hope we can hang on to him until retirement, and that will come down once again to the Prez....is the2022 schedule the right model or is it the 2023 or is it the Tyndal23 P5 equivalent model. Will be fun to watch.

[Ill flame]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/06/18/ ... socialflow

A part of the 12 team proposal that I didn't catch before is that the top 6 conference champions earn automatic berths. This means a Boise st, app st or UCF could earn a spot over an unranked pac 12 champion like Oregon. Naturally the PAC 12 will fight for all P5 champs to get those spots instead.

[Sly Fox]

That obviously means that unless we ever joined a conference we would never be eligible for a 1st round bye. Same goes for Notre Dame and BYU. Otherwise this set-up really is likely the best option from our perspective that we could have ever been presented.

[Ill flame]

I think this format is a nudge from the committee for independents to join a conference. I think this will ultimately be a stepping stone to all conference champions having a spot in the playoffs a decade or 2 from now

[tyndal23]

I think this format is a nudge from the committee for independents to join a conference. I think this will ultimately be a stepping stone to all conference champions having a spot in the playoffs a decade or 2 from now

I disagree. ND went along with this, I think ND views this as a much better opportunity to get in much more frequently and they get a home playoff game more often than not. Really tough for them with 4 team playoff and no Conference Champ game - I think this validates their Independent stance vs the current set up. Competing against 6 at large is better than 4 for them, especially when it is spots 7-12 year in and year out. Remember the $ - they keep the playoff spot $ vs splitting up with shared conference members ( another aspect I haven’t seen on the new 12 team, plan is the actual round by round playoff $ ). BYU is down a notch and Liberty another 2 based on scheduling SOS. But that is where the X factor comes in - W-L vs SOS. Committee clearly didn’t like LU SOS last year. Your synopsis places MAC champ over second best SEC team? No way.

[ballcoach15]

With 12 teams in playoffs, SEC will get 4 teams in. The 4th best team in SEC will be better than most conference champions.

[tyndal23]

With 12 teams in playoffs, SEC will get 4 teams in. The 4th best team in SEC will be better than most conference champions.

Sankey just nominated Ballcoach to playoff committee. Congrats BC.

[Ill flame]

I think this format is a nudge from the committee for independents to join a conference. I think this will ultimately be a stepping stone to all conference champions having a spot in the playoffs a decade or 2 from now

I disagree. ND went along with this, I think ND views this as a much better opportunity to get in much more frequently and they get a home playoff game more often than not. Really tough for them with 4 team playoff and no Conference Champ game - I think this validates their Independent stance vs the current set up. Competing against 6 at large is better than 4 for them, especially when it is spots 7-12 year in and year out. Remember the $ - they keep the playoff spot $ vs splitting up with shared conference members ( another aspect I haven’t seen on the new 12 team, plan is the actual round by round playoff $ ). BYU is down a notch and Liberty another 2 based on scheduling SOS. But that is where the X factor comes in - W-L vs SOS. Committee clearly didn’t like LU SOS last year. Your synopsis places MAC champ over second best SEC team? No way.

These are all valid points although I could see their greedy fanbase getting upset about never getting a bye. All conference champs should receive a spot above at large schools in a proper playoff imo. Unfortunately the CFP is more of a money grab than a real playoff.

[tyndal23]

I think this format is a nudge from the committee for independents to join a conference. I think this will ultimately be a stepping stone to all conference champions having a spot in the playoffs a decade or 2 from now

I disagree. ND went along with this, I think ND views this as a much better opportunity to get in much more frequently and they get a home playoff game more often than not. Really tough for them with 4 team playoff and no Conference Champ game - I think this validates their Independent stance vs the current set up. Competing against 6 at large is better than 4 for them, especially when it is spots 7-12 year in and year out. Remember the $ - they keep the playoff spot $ vs splitting up with shared conference members ( another aspect I haven’t seen on the new 12 team, plan is the actual round by round playoff $ ). BYU is down a notch and Liberty another 2 based on scheduling SOS. But that is where the X factor comes in - W-L vs SOS. Committee clearly didn’t like LU SOS last year. Your synopsis places MAC champ over second best SEC team? No way.

These are all valid points although I could see their greedy fanbase getting upset about never getting a bye. All conference champs should receive a spot above at large schools in a proper playoff imo. Unfortunately the CFP is more of a money grab than a real playoff.

Well if it comes down to $ and the gap between P5 G5 narrows ( rumors of that terminology going away ) then your synopsis in a couple of decades isn’t too far fetched - No One saw the 24 team FCS playoff coming when it did, and it works ( and mirrors rest of NCAA sports more closely ). They did review 24 and nixed it quickly ( great in depth article in The Athletic about how this whole thing came about and was actually decided upon 15 months ago right before Covid hit and they looked at all options). 16/24 teams is what would take for all conference champs to get in. The secondary bowls might be dead pretty quick and expanding yet again might make more sense and possibly 11 game regular season with larger playoff pool. Bottom line, expansion was needed now - This is a big shot in the arm for CFB - teams like FL having so many seniors sit out a NY6 bowl game was terrible. Ironically, the Image Likeness $ for players may have helped solve some of that “sit out” issue. Regardless, 12 teams keeps players and fans engaged so much more last month of the season

[Ill flame]

This is what the 12 team playoff likely would've looked like last season based on the final CFP rankings/conference championships and avoiding rematches. Even with huge expansion, the Pac 12 likely wouldnt have a team in.