Big Ten botches statement on CFP expansion with multiple late-night revisions
At Big Ten Media Days in July, Kevin Warren spoke out in favor of College Football Playoff expansion. He got his wish Friday, and commended the CFP Board of Managers for making their decision in a statement Friday night — even though the league Twitter account tweeted it three times to get it right.
The CFP board unanimously voted to approve expanding the playoff from four teams to 12 teams by 2024, although it could happen sooner. Warren was the last Power 5 commissioner to celebrate the decision, saying it’s not only good for the game, but good for the conference.
However, the conference tweeted three versions of the statement, changing the second sentence each time.
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“College Football Playoff expansion is excellent for college football, and excellent for the Big Ten Conference,” Warren stated. “The potential expansion will provide added access, exposure and opportunities for our student-athletes and member institutions.
“While work remains, we are proud of what has been accomplished. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with our colleagues to actualize the 12-team format.”
At media days in Indianapolis, Warren said he was “100 percent in favor” of expanding the playoff in the future. Now, the question is when, and it could reportedly happen as soon as 2024.
More details on the future 12-team CFP format
The College Football Playoff committee made it official Friday, announcing its plans to expand to 12 teams. In the announcement, it revealed more details about the new-look format.
The 12-team playoff will feature six conference champions and the next six highest-ranked teams. The top four teams will get a bye, while the other eight teams play first-round games at campus sites. Quarterfinal and semifinal games will, in turn, be played at bowl game sites pending agreements with the bowls.
Additionally, the playoff can start in either the second or third weekend of December, and the committee called for “at least 12 days between the conference championship games and the first-round games.”
Expansion talks heated up this week and culminated in a CFP Board of Managers meeting on Friday to vote on a 12-team format. The vote was unanimous, and it’s now a matter of when expansion will start. The CFP’s current contract with ESPN runs through 2025, but conversations could start soon about potentially expanding earlier than that — maybe as soon as 2024, according to Sports Illustrated.