James Franklin pressed for comment on Big Ten's expanded playoff suggestion

The Big Ten recently made waves by floating the idea of expanding the College Football Playoff to more than 20 teams, and as many as 24 or 28 teams making it. Despite the idea drawing criticism, one of the Big Ten’s most prominent coaches, James Franklin at Penn State, hasn’t wanted to comment on it.

Franklin was recently asked at a press conference for comment on the idea. However, he chose to avoid the question, emphasizing that he’s been more focused on the regular season than the potential for further expansion to the College Football Playoff.

“Knowing Pat [Kraft], he’s given you all the quotes you need,” James Franklin said. “I’m focused on Nevada and Penn State. Those discussions are really good for the commissioner and really good for the athletic director. Obviously, I’m a part of those conversations in the offseason, but right now, I’m totally focused on Penn State and totally focused on Nevada.”

James Franklin and Penn State made the CFP for the first time in 2024 after it expanded to 12 teams. They followed that with a run to the semifinal round. In a field that expands to more than 20 teams, the Nittany Lions would likely be a consistent participant.

The expanded Playoff model that the Big Ten floated caught plenty of people by surprise. In fact, there were reports that it caught the CFP itself by surprise.

“I spoke with a lot of people around college football this weekend about this, and everyone I spoke to in and out of the Big Ten stressed that this is an idea that is in its infancy. As a matter of fact, one person in the Big Ten said that their head coaches had not even been formally presented the idea yet. And the Power Four commissioners are expected to meet in person to talk about this more in the coming weeks,” Dinich said.

“And it’s important to know that they’ve got to have buy-in from all of the commissioners, because they are talking about eliminating conference championship games, which even those in the Big Ten will acknowledge is a huge obstacle, not impossible, but it is one of the biggest obstacles in terms of making this happen.” 

The idea that the Big Ten floated would include the elimination of conference championship games. It would include seven spots for the Big Ten and SEC and five bids apiece for the ACC and Big 12. That would leave two bids for non-P4 conferences and two at-large spots. For now, though, it’s a long way to go before that is on the table.