'The system is broken': Pac-12 commissioner updates CFP expansion talks

Rumors of College Football Playoff expansion have swirled the last couple years. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff provided an interesting update on Wednesday, though.

Kliavkoff, during an appearance on 750 The Game in Eugene, Oregon with John Canzano, opened up about where things stand regarding expanding the CFP. His answer doesn’t bode well for people hoping for more teams, though.

“Candidly, given everything that’s been said publicly, looks like we are stuck at four for a while,” Kliavkoff said.

He also offered quite a thought about the way things are currently set up with the playoff format.

“The system is broken,” Kliavkoff said. “Anytime you have 3% of your teams and student athletes competing for a championship, it’s a broken system.”

Kliavkoff took over as Pac-12 commissioner in July 2021, and the league struggled this bowl season. Pac-12 teams went 0-5 in bowl games and its highest-ranked team was No. 11 Utah, which fell to Ohio State in a thrilling Rose Bowl showdown.

Nick Saban takes issue with proposed College Football Playoff expansion

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Alabama head coach Nick Saban didn’t quite vouch for an expanded College Football Playoff field. After all, the Crimson Tide is rarely on the outside looking in of the four-team bracket.

Ever since the CFP model succeeded the BCS national championship in 2014, the four-team field has created debate as to whether the model needs change. Many are vouching for an expanded 12-team field, and given recent developments, that adjustment seems just around the corner.

Meanwhile, Saban and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart combined to teach a masterclass in CFP conflict this past weekend: No. 1 Alabama dominated No. 4 Cincinnati, 27-6, and No. 3 Georgia blew out No. 4 Michigan, 34-11, leading to a SEC Championship Game rematch next week. Meanwhile, other New Years Six bowl games — which consist of teams that just barely made the cut for the College Football Playoff — were as competitive as can be.

But Saban questions the theory that expanding that field will make the College Football Playoff any more exciting. It certainly won’t make the games any closer, he thinks.

“It was a really hard-fought game for us, I think, and we have a tremendous amount of respect for the team that we played,” Saban said Monday of Alabama’s win over Cincinnati. “I don’t know that expanding — if this is the best four teams and they played each other, I don’t see the logic in it if we had more teams there would be better games. I don’t know how that adds up.”