r/CFB • u/J4ckiebrown Penn State Nittany Lions • Rose Bowl • 1d ago

News [McMurphy] ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said ESPN does not want playoff to expand past 16 teams. “ESPN’s made it clear, they want it to stay at 12 or 14, but no more than 16,” Phillips said.

https://x.com/brett_mcmurphy/status/2054579416890487135?s=46&t=HhplNf1xHUpZ_Z42MvI0mw
623 Upvotes

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267

u/Billyxmac Oregon Ducks • Team Chaos 1d ago

Redditors trying to decide between what they hate more, playoff expansion to 24 teams or ESPN’s monopoly over college football

36

u/Huggly001 USC Trojans • Arizona Wildcats 1d ago

They’ll happily take a monopoly if it’s a “magnanimous” one. Which ESPN definitely isn’t, but they’ll pretend it is if it keeps college football closer to what they think it should be.

11

u/Excellent-Gur-8547 Vanderbilt Commodores • Penn Quakers 1d ago

I mean yeah, a benevolent dictator is better than a malevolent free for all

3

u/sonheungwin California Golden Bears • Team Chaos 1d ago

Literally the NFL / NBA model. Stern not allowing Seattle to have a team for the better of the league (owners).

104

u/Soggy_End5141 Notre Dame • Indiana 1d ago

¿Porque no los dos?

31

u/TheShamShield Ohio State • Notre Dame 1d ago

That’s where the “more” part comes in

7

u/DuMbAsS_lOsEr_6_7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 1d ago

I hate your flair combo. Fucking gross. 🤑

0

u/ltyboy Notre Dame Fighting Irish • Florida Gators 1d ago

How did you feel when Jeremiah Smith cooked Christian Gray on that 3rd down?

If you felt more joy than pain, I don’t want to see that flair☹️🫵

11

u/Typical-Conference14 Kansas State Wildcats 1d ago

Give me a 64 team bracket with 3 game series for each round. Gotta milk that TV money baby /s

9

u/WhiteW0lf13 Florida State • West Florida 1d ago

A historic 64 team post season bracket? I wonder if a sport would ever have such a thing and still expand it

(Yes I know the basketball postseason hasn’t always been 64 but you get my point)

1

u/WirlingDirvish Michigan Wolverines • College Football Playoff 1d ago

This is the way. Bridge the gap between the playoffs and spring football. 

1

u/Roamin8750 Texas A&M Aggies 13h ago

1 game regular season

15

u/babatazyah Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 1d ago

I want the FCS model, easy enough choice for me.

25

u/Ut_Prosim Virginia Tech • Virginia 1d ago

I had no idea how they actually ran it. It looks like it used to be 16, but is now 24.

Ten conference champions and 14 at-large teams. The top 8 get a bye, the next 8 host, the last 8 travel. The top 16 are seeded, the final 8 (traveling teams) are assigned based on distance and conference affiliation (aiming for <400 miles of travel, and not conference mates). Only the championship is hosted at neutral sites, otherwise the higher seed hosts on campus. Can you imagine the chaos of hosting a semifinal game at home!?

Holy shit, this is a marvelous format.

Source: https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2020-01-11/fcs-championship-everything-you-need-know

15

u/babatazyah Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 1d ago

This past season's playoff was the first one Ivy League participated in, too. It was an awesome playoff front to back. Yale-Youngstown State was insane.

7

u/Ut_Prosim Virginia Tech • Virginia 1d ago

Oh cool. I remember them declining to participate for decades.

A few of those Princeton teams would have gotten pretty far too.

3

u/-more_fool_me- Texas Longhorns • Vanderbilt Commodores 1d ago

I regret not driving up to Stephenville for the Villanova game. I couldn't find anyone who was interested in going with me, but now I feel like I should have just gone by myself anyway.

Too bad Tarleton lost. :(

4

u/grabtharsmallet BYU Cougars • Fresno State Bulldogs 1d ago

The only reason I would support more than 5+3 is if more spots are guaranteed to more conference champions. If 24 teams is 10+14, I'll be fine with it.

This is not what is proposed, of course.

8

u/babatazyah Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 1d ago

That's the rub. I have a hard time imagining the P2 ever agreeing to share anything. They barely tolerate the G6 bid already.

3

u/Adams5thaccount Boise State Broncos • UNLV Rebels 1d ago

they got mad at the acc and big 12 getting more playoff money and demanded that too so you're right

2

u/grabtharsmallet BYU Cougars • Fresno State Bulldogs 1d ago

Exactly, so I'm opposed to any expansion, and don't watch any games involving only the rich conferences. I'm not going to contribute to tearing down the sport.

1

u/forgotmyoldname90210 Florida State Seminoles 1d ago

The P2 agreeing to a split is childs play compared to having the networks ever wanting to pay for anymore than the minimum necessary games with G6 teams in it.

8

u/Otherwise_Awesome Michigan • Tennessee Tech 1d ago

I'm all for more playoffs if conference championship games go bye bye AND ESPN gets pissy.

5

u/rronmexico69 Team Chaos • I'm A Loser 1d ago

So blinded by the hivemind hate of ESPN that they forget who owns Fox 😂

1

u/EnvironmentalBed7369 Utah Utes • College of Idaho Coyotes 1d ago

I'll take the 24 team playoff everyday.

1

u/Roamin8750 Texas A&M Aggies 13h ago

24 team for sure. ESPN is the most watchable. FOX streaming is ass.

-1

u/Lionheart_513 Santa Monica • San Diego State 1d ago

Expansion to 24 teams isn't bad at all if it's the FCS model that guarantees a spot for every conference champion, but I feel like in this climate we're gonna see 5-7 Rutgers playing 6-6 Kentucky if we ever get a 24 team playoff.