George Kliavkoff: College football fans were 'misled' by expansion talks

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff addressed his interpretation of the exciting rumors that the College Football Playoff could be expanding to 12 teams in the near future.

It looks like it’ll take more negotiating until we get a proper answer as to whether or not playoff expansion is legitimate, or just a hopeful rumor.

The fans were misled,” Kliavkoff told Paul Finebaum. “They were basically shown a format in June, that did not have the approval of all the people that needed to approve it.” He called this a mistake that fans and media alike took to heart and ran with it. There was never any validity to it.

“I hope we don’t ever do that again. It’s a self inflicted wound,” he said. “… I just don’t think that’s the way we should be doing business.”

Kliavkoff on the Rose Bowl possibly joining the CFP rotation

With talks of playoff expansion to an eight or a 12-team model over the next few seasons, the Rose Bowl wants in on the love that the Orange and Sugar Bowl have in 2021 — they want to be a part of the playoffs.

“What we’ve said is if we go to a format where the six New Year’s Eve bowl games are playing on a rotating three year basis: quarterfinal, quarterfinal semifinal — those quarterfinals, either an eight-team or a 12-team model would fall during the New Year’s weekend, and presumably the Rose Bowl, if it was hosting a quarterfinal win hosted in its traditional time,” Kliavkoff said.

As a semifinal game once every three years, the committee would have their coveted 2 p.m. PT Rose Bowl spot they’ve been wanting since the CFP inception nearly a decade ago.

Kliavkoff believes it will be difficult to expand the college football playoffs and also hold on to the great traditions throughout the New Year’s Six bowl game slate, and that’s just one of the several matters delaying the expansion of the playoffs.

“We’ve asked for three hours every three years to be protected against having to compete against a CFP quarterfinal and everything that we’ve asked for the Rose Bowl — a tiny ask, we’ve said if the other contract bowls like the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl want similar accommodations in the years where they’re hosting a semifinal, we’d be willing to give into that as well,” Kliavkoff said.