College Football

College Football Playoff delays expansion opportunity

Updated Feb. 20, 2022 6:59 p.m. ET

By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

Rather than be bold like Eric B., rock the mic like Rakim and get paid in full, "The Eleven" running the College Football Playoff stayed conservative instead of counting more dead presidents.

After months of hand-wringing and public pressure to expand the College Football Playoff beyond four teams before the end of the current, 12-year deal in 2025, the 10 FBS conference commissioners plus Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbick — known as the CFP Management Committee — could not reach a unanimous vote to expand.

Now the earliest the CFP will expand is 2027.

"Even though the outcome did not lead to a recommendation for an early expansion before the end of the current 12-year contract, the discussions have been helpful and informative," CFP executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement. "I am sure they will serve as a useful guide for the Board of Managers and for the Management Committee as we determine what the Playoff will look like beginning in the 2026-2027 season."

And so, they told their bosses, composed of 11 university presidents and chancellors representing each of the 10 FBS conferences plus Notre Dame — known as the CFP Board of Managers — that like a bunch of kids arguing over the same toy, they couldn't agree. So the commissioners and conferences recommended they have the toy taken away from them in light of their inability to come a unanimous decision.

The board of managers did what many parents do: Remove the toy completely to let those children think about what they've done — for the next four years.

Now, it should be said that not all members of "The Eleven" were happy about this decision.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff want a format that is more representative.

This decision comes after "The Eleven" unveiled a 12-team playoff that looked juicy enough for fans to think their team might be allowed a bite in the near future.

In committing to the status quo, "The Eleven" left a projected $450 million on the table. Only the gout-addled nobleman could look at half-a-billion on the table and says, "Nah, that's all right — I'm full."

Well, I'm not. Neither are most college football fans, who, like me, are members of the proletariat. And we don't eat cake.

We showed up with custom cutlery expecting a steak dinner fit for all of us to enjoy, and "The Eleven" at the head of the table would rather starve us out than share a meal.

Oh, sure. They let Cincinnati in.

But that's only because Cincy put together a streak — a record 33-5 run with an undefeated regular season in 2021, to be exact — that rivals that of any team sitting at the head of the oligarchy, the sainted SEC.

Even then, the CFP selection committee looked prepared to ignore what Cincy hath wrought if Oklahoma State's Dezmon Jackson hadn’t come six inches short of the Pokes defeating Baylor in the Big 12 Championship in December.

Sure, the Bearcats received an invitation to the CFP — but they had to be the only undefeated team remaining in the sport to do it.

Only 13 out 130 FBS programs have been invited to play in the CFP in eight years (10%). While that's twice as high as the acceptance rate at Harvard (5%), it's also a rate nearly as tough as the U.S. Naval Academy.

An SEC team has made the CFP every year since its inception.

Fewer have won a CFP national title: Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU and Ohio State.

Four teams — Bama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State — account for 21 of the 32 total appearances by any team since the first teams appeared in the first CFP game in 2014.

But this has never been about what’s fair or what’s representative or offering the many folks from all over the country who root for teams outside the Power 5 a chance to see their team play in a tournament that gives them a shot. It has been about money and legislation. And both are going up in ways the NCAA, let alone its institutions, aren't prepared for.

Many athletic departments are still wrapping their heads and hands around the piles of cash and very idea of name, image and likeness.

This while cases are working through the federal court system challenging the NCAA’s amateurism philosophy and pushing for college athletes to have the same rights as employees across the country — namely, that they get paid like employees.

It’s clear to me that "The Eleven" is full on cash and wants to have Congress fix their NIL and pay-for-play problem for them before they sink their teeth into the ample cash cow that an expanded CFP will provide.

What "The Eleven" is most concerned about is control, and it’s scared of losing it.

I’ll say this about "The Eleven," though: They’re always thinking of a master plan, even if that plan is to do nothing at all.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.