We are now less than a year away from that first 12-team postseason, and there are still all sorts of problems.
Pac 12 Issue- Before the Pac-12 collapsed, the CFP had agreed upon a basic 6+6 qualification structure, wherein the 6 highest ranked conference champions would receive automatic bids and at-large teams would fill the other 6 spots. The top four teams in a CFP ranking system would receive byes in the first round. Go to the NCAA website, and that’s what it says right now. But now one of the Power 5 leagues has only 2 members. It seems logical to move to a 5+7 format to accommodate 4 Power conference champions, 1 Group of 5 champion, and 7 at-large bids. Oregon St and Washington St should have no beef about that as it relates to getting in the playoff, but they will no doubt have a beef regarding sharing the money.
First Round Games- Teams don’t know whether or not they host until a few weeks before. Hotels for fans, gameday personnel for tickets/concessions, team travel and lodging issues, the actual ticket sales themselves, just all sorts of logistics that will be brand new and have to be taken care of in a very short time frame. Its not like a bowl, because with a bowl, that city and the people putting on that game have known the exact day and time for a year. And then you have signing day in the middle of December which runs right up against the first round games. Can you imagine signing day and your biggest game of the year being within 10 days of each other? Not to mention the portal issues.
Money- This year, the CFP will award about $80 million to each Power 5 conference, to be split up in whichever way they chose, and $100 million to be split equally among the Group of Five. But with the 12 team deal, conferences like the Big 10 say that since they have expanded, their share needs to be expanded since with that model, each school’s share is being diluted. And what to do about the Pac-12? The first argument for Oregon St and Washington St is that the Pac-12 still gets its $80 million, and they get to divide that $80 million amongst themselves. Which will never happen. But they should get something.
Media Rights- Its big money. Believe it or not, as of right now, there is no contract for the 2024 and 2025 first-round games. ESPN does have rights to all of the other games. The current contract with ESPN pays out an average of $470 million per year. Some are saying that the next deal, which would start in 2026, will likely be worth at least double that amount, and will likely feature more than one network. None of that has been resolved.
Lots to sort out in the next 11 months. Now its easy to see why they really didn't want to start all of this until '25/'26.
Pac 12 Issue- Before the Pac-12 collapsed, the CFP had agreed upon a basic 6+6 qualification structure, wherein the 6 highest ranked conference champions would receive automatic bids and at-large teams would fill the other 6 spots. The top four teams in a CFP ranking system would receive byes in the first round. Go to the NCAA website, and that’s what it says right now. But now one of the Power 5 leagues has only 2 members. It seems logical to move to a 5+7 format to accommodate 4 Power conference champions, 1 Group of 5 champion, and 7 at-large bids. Oregon St and Washington St should have no beef about that as it relates to getting in the playoff, but they will no doubt have a beef regarding sharing the money.
First Round Games- Teams don’t know whether or not they host until a few weeks before. Hotels for fans, gameday personnel for tickets/concessions, team travel and lodging issues, the actual ticket sales themselves, just all sorts of logistics that will be brand new and have to be taken care of in a very short time frame. Its not like a bowl, because with a bowl, that city and the people putting on that game have known the exact day and time for a year. And then you have signing day in the middle of December which runs right up against the first round games. Can you imagine signing day and your biggest game of the year being within 10 days of each other? Not to mention the portal issues.
Money- This year, the CFP will award about $80 million to each Power 5 conference, to be split up in whichever way they chose, and $100 million to be split equally among the Group of Five. But with the 12 team deal, conferences like the Big 10 say that since they have expanded, their share needs to be expanded since with that model, each school’s share is being diluted. And what to do about the Pac-12? The first argument for Oregon St and Washington St is that the Pac-12 still gets its $80 million, and they get to divide that $80 million amongst themselves. Which will never happen. But they should get something.
Media Rights- Its big money. Believe it or not, as of right now, there is no contract for the 2024 and 2025 first-round games. ESPN does have rights to all of the other games. The current contract with ESPN pays out an average of $470 million per year. Some are saying that the next deal, which would start in 2026, will likely be worth at least double that amount, and will likely feature more than one network. None of that has been resolved.
Lots to sort out in the next 11 months. Now its easy to see why they really didn't want to start all of this until '25/'26.
