Report: CFP board of managers discusses potentially expanding before 2026

Talks of College Football Playoff expansion stalled over the offseason. However, the idea reportedly came up at the CFP board of managers meeting Wednesday.

The 11 members of the CFP board discussed “the next iteration” of the playoff before the contract runs out in 2025, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. Conversations about potential expansion stalled over the summer and the plan was to keep the CFP at four teams until the deal expires.

“A source told ESPN that the general feel among the presidents and chancellors on the call was that the college sports leaders have left too much money on the table by not implementing a new playoff before 2026, perhaps as much as a half-billion dollars,” Thamel wrote. “Much of the obstruction to the 12-team playoff appears to have dissipated, as media day comments from multiple leaders revealed some of the obstacles now appear to have been more performative than grounded in reality.”

Since the discussions broke down, multiple conference commissioners came out at their respective media days in favor of expanding the CFP. Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said he would be “100% in favor” of expansion, as did incoming Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff. However, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips remained steadfast in his desire to keep the CFP at four teams.

“The membership of the ACC is very much aligned in its position that now is not the right time to expand the College Football Playoff,” Phillips said, per ESPN’s Andrea Adelson. “We have significant concerns surrounding a proposed expansion model.”

Greg Sankey responds to CFP expansion talk from rival conferences

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey also weighed in after the media days dust settled, telling ESPN’s Heather Dinich he’s taking the other conference commissioners’ media days statements with a grain of salt.

Instead, he wants to pay attention to what people say in private rather than in public.

“I’m really interested in what people say in meeting rooms, not at media days,” he told Dinich. “I don’t just take statements from the past couple of weeks as clear indications of direction.”

After Dinich tweeted the quote, Sankey retweeted with a comment to make clear where he stands on the issue.

“In case anyone else feels the need to call and ask,” he tweeted.