The solution to the College Football Playoff expansion question sits two inches in front of Tony Petitti’s face. And instead of seizing it, the Big Ten is firing shots into the moon.
We’re less than two weeks away from the Dec. 1 deadline that’s set to expand the playoff in time for the 2026 season. Every Power Four conference except Petitti’s had been on board to expand the playoff to 16 teams by adding four more at-large bids in a so-called 5+11 model.
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The Big Ten didn’t like that plan. It once pushed its own 16-team plan that nobody else liked. Now, it’s zooming past 16 all the way to 24.
The Big Ten has presented a 24-team plan to the ACC, Big 12 and SEC, according to a report from Yahoo Sports. This model reportedly would include four automatic bids apiece for each of the Power Four conferences, plus two auto bids for the Group of Five. That comes to 18 of the 24 bids being awarded in auto-bid fashion.
Never mind that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has consistently said his league favors playoff models with more at-large bids, not more auto bids, and CFP expansion cannot occur without agreement from both the SEC and the Big Ten.
Love the SEC or hate it, you must face reality it’s not signing off on any playoff plan that preemptively restricts it from accessing more than 58% of the spots.
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So, what’s the Big Ten doing here with this 24-team plan other than wasting time?
“The move to 16 should be a priority for all of us in conference leadership,” Sankey said last weekend.
Note, he said 16 and not 24.
If the Big Ten and SEC can’t agree on an expansion format, “we’re at 12” for next season, Sankey said.
And while the Big Ten wastes time with this never-going-to-fly 4+4+4+4+2+6 playoff model, there’s a very real possibility a 10-2 Big Ten team gets left out of the playoff this season.
Starting next season, if 10-win Big Ten teams get left out of a 12-team playoff because the conference refused to embrace a 5+11 model, it would become a remarkable self-own. The Big Ten’s fanciful ideas remain the enemy of realistic playoff expansion that would create more access for its membership.
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Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Big Ten’s 24-team playoff plan becomes enemy of CFP expansion
