When reporters were assembled in a ring in the foyer of said Big Ten offices in Rosemont, Illinois, Greg Sankey flung open the gates and barged in. The SEC commissioner inhaled deeply like he was only moments away from making a significant news, maybe a break in talks for an enlarged College Football Playoff Expansion.
“This is what I quote!” “Anything he says!” Sankey said before grinning and pointing at Bill Hancock the CFP executive director as he dashed out the door.
Over the course of two days, 10 FBS directors and Jack Swarbrick, the athletic director at Notre Dame, met for nearly 10 hours. By College Football Playoff Expansion by 2024, according to Hancock, the panel “made significant progress,” but no explanations, clarifications, or details were offered. There were no big decisions (or at least none that were publicly disclosed).
The College Football Playoff Expansion: Everything You Need To Know
On October 20, officials will convene in Dallas, that some see as an ultimatum to decide if expansion is possible that before new Television contract ends following the 2025 season. Participants are required to participate in several virtual meetings between them and the school subcommittees between now and that point.
For whatever it was worth, officials left the sessions on both Tuesday and Wednesday feeling more optimistic than they had possibly ever been about going wide. In contrast to the previous year, when progress was blocked by a number of concerns, most of them minor in form, there seems to be a greater sense of teamwork and collegiality. In fact, on Tuesday evening in Chicago, the directors all ate dinner together.
The College Football Playoff Expansion won’t start until at least 2026, however the executive board of directors urged commissioners to begin thinking about ways to extend as soon as possible in ’24. There are several obstacles, though.
