College Football Playoff Expansion Stalling As SEC, Big Ten Deadlocked Ahead Of ESPN Deadline

MIAMI—The wait continues over whether we will see a change to the College Football Playoff format, as the management committee met on Sunday in Miami with a hard deadline from ESPN of Friday. 

Scattered throughout the Loews Hotel, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti scurried past reporters after a second round of meetings, while Greg Sankey kept his distance as we awaited comments regarding the future. 

It's pretty simple: Either agree on 16 or 24 teams, or the playoff will stay at 12 teams next season. 

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The ongoing discussions even led ESPN to extending a deadline from November to Jan. 23, which is Friday. According to CFP chair Rich Clark, the television network will not grant a further extension on the deadline, which means if they cannot come to an agreement, everything will stay the same for at least one more season. 

Could they come to agreement? 

"That’s up to two people in the room (SEC & Big Ten). There’s obviously a lot to discuss and discussions are ongoing," AAC’s Tom Pernetti said following the meetings.  

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti hurried to the escalator, saying that there was still more work to do. 

Ok, but it's clear that the SEC and Big Ten are at an impasse. 

In this case, the Big Ten is continuing to push the idea of a 24-team playoff, while also trying to convince members that they would agree to a 16-team format if they eventually get to 24 teams within the next few years. 

As for the SEC, along with other members, they are not budging on a 16-team playoff format right now, making it a point that they would rather stay at 12 teams than jump to 24. 

"We’re only in Year 2 of our 12-team format, so I reminded my colleagues that from when we had the very first notion of going beyond just a four-team playoff to actually having a 12-team playoff, it took five years," CFP Board chair and Mississippi State president Mark Keenum mentioned after the meeting. 

And no, the CFP committee was not aware President Donald Trump would be releasing a statement Saturday detailing his plan to sign an executive order to protect the Army versus Navy television time slot. 

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Also, CFP chair Rich Clark mentioned that there are no further meetings scheduled this week after Sunday. Could that change? I mean, sure. But judging by comments made on Sunday inside the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, this one feels as though we are not going to get a resolution. 

I don't think fans would have a problem keeping the playoff at twelve teams. But, jumping to 24 seems like a drastic move that is not worth the squeeze right now.