ESPN's Heather Dinich addresses timeline for College Football Playoff expansion decision

Major news surfaced on Wednesday courtesy of a report from Yahoo! Sports that the leaders in college football are seeking a potential expansion of the College Football Playoff to 14 teams, as well as the inclusion of several new automatic qualifying spots.

But how soon could such a proposal be put into effect?

ESPN’s Heather Dinich, who covers the College Football Playoff extensively, joined the Paul Finebaum Show on Thursday afternoon to discuss exactly that.

“Just so college football fans understand, this is not until 2026, these conversations about expanding beyond 12,” Dinich said. “For this fall and next college football season it will be a 12-team College Football Playoff.

“The conversations are about the next iteration and what it will look like because of a new TV contract, which is two years for the end of this current contract, plus six more years. So that’s why these conversations are happening. That plus the fact the Big 12 (sic) and the SEC are flexing their muscles right now. So this is what we’re talking about.”

One of the proposals floated is an expansion to 14 teams, with automatic qualifiers for several different groups. The Big Ten and SEC would each get three automatic qualifiers, while the ACC and Big 12 would get two. Then the highest-rated Group of Five conference team would also get an automatic qualifier, leaving three potential at-large spots up for grabs between other teams or Notre Dame (if inside the top 14).

It’s still too early, though, to know whether there will be any definitive answers soon.

“I’m going to give you over a decade of covering this as my answer, which is don’t ever put a timetable on the College Football Playoff leaders,” Dinich said. “Because if there ever was a moving target, they are it. So in reality, look, they know time is of the essence.”

She then further outlined the timeframe for a potential change.

“One source said to me yesterday it’s time to either figure it out or stop talking, essentially,” Dinich said. “But at the same time, look, they had how many months, how many years, to actually go from four to 12 and conversations? This is how it works.”

In case you were worried there weren’t enough complicating factors when it comes to the College Football Playoff, there is another.

“And by the way, at the end of the day it also has to be unanimous,” Dinich pointed out. “That’s one of the governance structures that, according to sources, they’re trying to get rid of so that one person doesn’t hold it up and then you do get back to that weighted voting. So there are a lot of issues they have to tackle. In an ideal world everyone would have some answers next week. I’m not going to be the one to go ahead and say next week is the deadline that they’re going to get it done.”

Regardless, the sport is considering some major changes and that’s worth noting as the playoff field gets set to expand to 12 teams for the first time in 2024.