Wilner on College Football Playoff expansion: Washington supports the 24-team field (and for good reason)

RANCHO PALOS VERDES — Big Ten executives have coalesced around commissioner Tony Petitti’s plan for a 24-team College Football Playoff during conference meetings this week at the luxurious Terranea Resort overlooking the Pacific. One of the newest members required zero convincing.

“Washington’s stance has always been whatever the larger participant field is, is what’s best for Washington,” Huskies athletic director Pat Chun told reporters.

“If you tell me it’s between 12 and 16, we’re going to pick 16. If you tell me it’s between 24 and 16, we’re going to pick 24.”

Chun’s comments came Tuesday afternoon, hours before Petitti both laid out his vision for the 24-team field to assembled media and explained the problems with expanding to just 16 teams, the size preferred by the SEC.

The playoff will remain a 12-team event until the Big Ten and SEC agree on 16 or 24, and it doesn’t appear the former has any interest in the smaller option.

Petitti said there have been “zero” conversations about a 16-team format with the Big Ten coaches and athletic directors.

“We’re working hard to figure out ways to get to a solution,” he said. “Inside our league, there’s a deep commitment to 24.”

Chun indicated the dialogue between the conferences that control the CFP is open on multiple levels, with presidents and athletic directors in regular communication.

SEC executives are scheduled to meet next week in Destin, Florida.

“There might be more public support, but at the end of the day it’s two votes and the SEC has one of them,” Chun said. “I’m sure our SEC colleagues will meet and discuss the merits and the challenges of a 24-team playoff next week.”

The primary reason for Chun’s support: access.

According to the Big Ten, 80 schools would have qualified for a 24-team playoff had the format been implemented in the first year of the CFP (2014).

Sticking with 12 or expanding to just 16 perhaps isn’t as concerning for the schools atop the football food chain that qualify annually.

But programs on the next tier, including Washington and USC, seemingly would benefit immensely from a doubling of the CFP field.

“In this environment,” Chun said, “I believe there needs to be more clarity on the selection process. That having been said, I’m certainly in the camp that the more access, the better.”

Washington qualified twice for the four-team event, in 2016 under Chris Petersen and 2023 under Kalen DeBoer.

Had the 24-team model been in place throughout, the Huskies would have also participated in 2017, 2018 and 2022 based on their position in the CFP rankings that were released prior to the conference championships.

Why use the penultimate edition as our guide? Because under a 24-team model, conference championship games would be eliminated.

Petitti’s plan grants one automatic bid to the best team in the Group of Six conferences and reserves 23 at-large spots for teams chosen by the selection committee.

The top eight seeds would receive opening-round byes, with No. 9 through 24 playing on the home field of the higher seed. The winners would advance to face the top eight seeds, which would have home games in the second round.

Petitti also believes the 24-team field would empower teams to schedule challenging non-conference games because they would not be as fearful of losses. Teams with 9-3 records would make the 24-team field. Some 8-4 teams might, as well.

The problems with 16, Petitti explained, are two-fold: a limited increase in access, and suboptimal economics.

Conference championships are valuable television properties, particularly with the Big Ten and SEC events.

Petitti believes they would create difficult logistics and offer little competitive value if the playoff expands to 16. But the TV dollars generated from adding only four teams would not offset what’s lost.

(The SEC championship alone is believed to be worth in excess of $75 million.)

Only by going to 24 teams — and adding 12 games — can the CFP generate enough new media revenue to justify eliminating the conference championships.

Of course, there’s no guarantee he’s right — at least, not yet.

The CFP’s media consultants are attempting to gauge network interest in a 24-team event, with Fox expected to be involved in negotiations.

(ESPN owns the rights to the CFP up to a 14-team field. Anything bigger would go to market.)

Discussions between the Big Ten and SEC are expected to continue through the summer and perhaps the fall. The deadline to expand the field for the 2027 season is Dec. 1.

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