Heather Dinich delves into debate between 14- or 16-team proposals for expanded College Football Playoff

News surfaced Wednesday that a proposal to expand the College Football Playoff to 14 teams is gaining steam, but it’s not the only option on the table when it comes to potential expansion.

There exists a possibility that the sport’s power brokers could also explore a 16-team playoff field, in part as a way of opening up more automatic qualification spots in the playoff.

For now, though, the 14-team model is the one with the most thrust behind it.

“My sense in speaking with sources is that 14 is the most favorable option because, again, we’re also talking about a parallel conversation with the TV contract here,” ESPN’s Heather Dinich said on the Paul Finebaum Show. “Some of this is, quite frankly, above my pay grade, so I don’t want to speak on behalf of ESPN or TV executives by any means. But at some point you’ve got to stop paying money. There’s a price on the table.”

Dinich is something of an expert covering College Football Playoff matters, having done it for the Worldwide Leader for the past decade or so.

She outlined the primary factor when it comes to weighing an increase in the size of the playoff field.

“Can 14 teams without any increase in price satisfy everyone’s needs who are at the table?” Dinich asked. “Whereas if it were to go to 16 teams at some point, are there diminishing returns? Is there advertising? Does ESPN want to pay more than $1.3 billion for this? My guess is probably not. But again, I think that you can’t untangle those two conversations as to the number of teams and the actual TV contract that’s on the table currently.”

As things currently stand in a 12-team format, there are only five automatic qualifier spots, one for each power conference champion and one for the highest-rated Group of Five champion. The other seven spots go to at-large teams.

One of the reasons for the push to the 14-team model is an increase in the number of automatic qualifiers.

Under the new proposed model, 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).

How a 16-team College Football Playoff would alter those automatic qualifier spots — or first-round byes for teams — remains to be seen.

Dinich seems to think the current support for the 14-team model will stick, versus an increase to 16 teams.

“Can they get 14 teams for the same price and come to a compromise there? Maybe,” she said. “So we’ll see as they continue talking, but I would think that they get to a resolution one way or another sooner than later.”