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College football playoff expansion talks stall with closer look at issues

Michigan linebacker Jaylen Harrell plays against Northern Illinois in the second half in Ann Arbor on Saturday. (AP photo)

A plan to expand the College Football Playoff stalled Wednesday when the college sports administrators who oversee the postseason system were unable to reach consensus on whether to grow the postseason format from four to 12 teams.

The 10 major college conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director who make up the CFP management committee met to share feedback from their members and address concerns about the expansion proposal that was unveiled in June.

“There’s still issues that need to be discussed,” CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock told AP.

Among the issues: the number of teams. Hancock said an eight-team format was part of the discussions Wednesday.

The meeting in the Dallas area, which was attended in person by some of the participants and virtually by others, was prelude to a session in Chicago next week that was supposed to include the CFP board of managers.

Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy throws a pass during warmups before a game against Washington in Ann Arbor on Sept. 11. (AP file photo)

The board is comprised of university presidents and chancellors representing each conference. The board has final say in all matters related to the playoff and there was hope the management committee would bring the presidents a recommendation to approve a format change.

Instead, the management committee will reconvene Tuesday, with the presidents joining via Zoom.

“There won’t be a vote next week,” Hancock said. “Next week will be, I’ll call it an informational meeting. It’s complicated.”

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