CFP Expansion Standoff: SEC, Big Ten Battle Over Future Format As Critical Decision Looms In Miami

While Indiana and Miami will be playing in the national title game on Monday night, important decisions regarding the CFP's future format could be made on Sunday afternoon in Miami. 

What's standing in the way of a change in how many teams will be participating in the postseason? That would be the SEC and Big Ten, who are currently battling over how many teams should be allowed in the playoff moving forward. 

When ESPN extended their deadline on when the CFP decision makers needed to make a decision on the future format, it bought time for both power conferences to come to a resolution that would appease both sides. 

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Remember, thanks to an agreement between all parties, which includes the Big 12, ACC, Group of Six and Notre Dame, it also gave Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti the power to decide which format would fit best moving forward. 

But, we currently have a standoff between both parties over how many teams the CFP should include in its next round of expansion. 

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While the SEC is lobbying for a 16-team format that would include five automatic bids to the highest ranked conference champions, which has the support of Big 12 and ACC leaders, the Big Ten has been steadily pushing for more. 

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This is the question that will be discussed on Sunday when conference commissioners meet inside a hotel ballroom to expand upon previous conversations regarding the playoff. 

Currently, the Big Ten is lobbying hard for a 24-team playoff, but is open to a conversation around automatic qualifiers. This thinking, which seems to be a very quick jump from the current 12-team format, has caused a rift with the SEC. 

Again, both power conferences hold power in this situation, though the SEC pushing for just a 16-team format has garnered the support of Big 12 and ACC leaders. 

The main question centers around why making the jump to 12 additional teams in such a short time period is necessary. The obvious answer is that it would garner more revenue from ESPN, who also sublicenses games to other networks for a nice chunk of money, which also helps offset cash spent on the overall budget of hosting the playoff on their networks. 

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But, standing in the way of a jump to 24 teams, besides logic, is the SEC being consistent with their thoughts on making an easy transition to just sixteen teams over the next few years. 

Do we really think there are 24 teams good enough to win a national Championship on a yearly basis? I think we can all agree there are not, but that does not mean the Big Ten is going to just agree with others for the sake of at least adding four more teams to the current system. 

One way for the Big Ten to achieve its goals more quickly is to come to a resolution with the SEC on slowly introducing the expanded format. Also, having additional on-campus games with teams added to the playoff could work, but you also have to recognize that conference title games could go away with an expanded playoff of this magnitude. 

The caveat? If the SEC agreed to 24 teams in the future, the Big Ten would then agree to 16 teams over the next three years. And, obviously, the ACC and Big 12 would prefer having an automatic qualifier.  

Think of it as a bridge to further expansion, but Greg Sankey would need to sign off on this for an agreement to be reached. 

What Happens If No Agreement Is Reached By Jan. 23?

It's simple, the College Football Playoff would stay at twelve teams next season, and leaders would then go back to the drawing board. 

Obviously, this is not what commissioners had in mind when they started discussing a future format, but it might not be the worst thing to kick this can down the road a few months. 

Coming off the past two years of a twelve-team playoff, I think most would agree it has worked. Sure, Notre Dame would have an argument about them being left out this season, but the committee seemingly got it right this year. 

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But, if they are going to push this through just for monetary gains, I don't know if it's worth the hassle, at least not right now. 

The CFP has been successful under this current twelve-team format. So, if you are going to make such an expansive jump, Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti had better make sure they get it right. 

This is why Sunday's meeting is so important regarding the future, because all sides are going to come out of this looking greedy. 

If it's not broken, why try to fix a good thing? 

Well, money and more exposure for teams are obviously leading the charge on this one. 

Let's see who blinks first.