CFP authorizes 5 +7 design for 12-team playoff

• Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior WriterFeb 20, 2024, 11:36 AM ET

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  • College football press reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

The College Football Playoff board of supervisors unanimously approved a model that will guarantee the five highest-ranked conference champs’ inclusion in the broadened 12-team field this fall, along with the next seven highest-ranked groups, the CFP revealed Tuesday.After months of

hold-up at the request of the dwindling Pac-12, the decision was made Tuesday early morning in a virtual meeting of the 10 FBS commissioners and the Notre Dame president, Rev. John Jenkins. The vote had to be consentaneous for the 5 +7 format to be approved, and the Pac-12 had either previously abstained or asked for a delay as it dealt with identifying its future following sweeping conference realignment.Washington State president Kirk Schulz, who represents the Pac-12 on the board, told ESPN recently he would consult Oregon State president Jayathi Y. Murthy and” be all set to vote”on Tuesday. Neither school can get approved for an automatic quote as a conference champion in each of the next two seasons, so Schulz conceded the seven at-large bids would be more useful to them than the initial proposal of 6 conference champs and 6 at-large groups. That format was proposed before the Pac-12 lost USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon to the Big Ten; Cal and Stanford to the ACC; and Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado to the Big 12. Editor’s Picks 2 Related The Pac-12 and Mountain West have consented to a short-term scheduling collaboration in

which Oregon State and Washington State will play at least 6 MWC opponents in 2024.”For our 2 schools in the Pac-12 as it’s presently set up, there is no concern that five-seven, with 7 at-larges, is much better than six at-larges,”Schulz told ESPN.”… There’s no question our football coaches are going to wish to compete for among those 7 slots, and 7 is going to be much better than six.” In most years, the 5 +7 format will assure the conference champs from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12 and ACC an area in the playoff, together with

the highest-ranked Group of 5 conference champion. The CFP deliberately will not describe the Group of 5 in its description of the format, however, since there is a possibility that a champ from one of the Power 4 conferences finishes ranked below the top champion from the American Athletic Conference, Conference U.S.A., Mountain West, Sun Belt or Mid-American Conference.In 2021, for example, when unbeaten No. 4 Cincinnati was the American Athletic Conference champ, ACC champ Pitt ended up at No. 12

with two losses. In the 12-team format, the 4 highest-ranked conference champions will get a first-round bye.Tuesday’s conference was likewise an opportunity for Washington State and Oregon State to request ongoing Power 5 income and ballot rights in the brand-new CFP agreement. For the next 2 years, the rest of the CFP’s present 12-year agreement, Washington State and Oregon State will each continue to get the full Power 5 revenue circulation, which is $5 million to$ 6 million per school. They are asking to continue to receive that amount in the next CFP contract, not knowing what their conference affiliation will be.According to the Pac-12’s proposition, which Schulz showed ESPN, Oregon State and Washington State are requesting”a distribution share and ballot rights equivalent to the most affordable per school pro rata share of the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, or SEC conference’s

circulation, no matter how those 4 conferences actually disperse CFP circulations to their members. “” We remained in a game of musical chairs and the music stopped and we had two schools standing, “Schulz stated.”We’ve invested and been thought about autonomy 5 school and conference for years. We just don’t think that because of the musical chairs that the two remaining schools in the Pac-12 must be penalized.”Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, the chair of the CFP board, told ESPN last week that none of the conferences know yet what the profits distribution will be in the next agreement.” None people do, “he said.”There’s a great deal of work that’s going to have to require on behalf of our commissioners and others to bring some suggestions to the board. They’re not there. We’re not there. I hear what he’s stating, but I do not know you commit to a school. “The CFP’s management committee, which comprises the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, are fulfilling in Dallas on Wednesday to continue dealing with the implementation of the 12-team playoff for this fall, along with weighty choices about the future of the sport’s postseason in

the next contract. The leading priority, according to multiple sources, is coming to an agreement on a new television offer, however they will also continue to talk about access and earnings distribution.One change they are close to agreeing on, according to multiple sources, is removing the contracts the New Year’s 6 bowls have with respective conferences in the new contract. The Sugar Bowl has a historic agreement with the SEC and Big 12, while the Rose Bowl has long been contractually tied to the Huge Ten and Pac-12, and the Orange Bowl with the ACC, Big 10 and Notre Dame.While those

agreements are expected to remain for this season and next, there is a desire among CFP leaders to have more flexibility in where groups are positioned moving forward– e.g., permitting Georgia to play in the Peach Bowl instead of the Sugar Bowl one year if it makes more sense.”We have actually taken pleasure in a long relationship with the SEC and to a shorter degree likewise with the Big 12, “Allstate Sugar

Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley told ESPN on Tuesday.” It’s been a great collaboration for the previous ten years, and while it’s unfortunate if that is to disappear, we comprehend the world around us is changing. The Sugar Bowl’s position from the start– once the expanded playoff became a conversation– we have pledged to our partners and the rest of the conferences that we’re going be an aid and not a barrier at the same time. We aim to stick by that.”