Ohio State AD concerned about College Football Playoff expansion

Amidst conversations of conference realignment, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told Yahoo Sports he believes the College Football Playoff should delay talks of expansion. The Playoff has consisted of four teams since its inception in 2014, but the board announced in June it would consider expanding to 12.

While that may have sounded like a fine idea at the time, the landscape has since drastically changed. Oklahoma and Texas were unanimously approved to join the SEC this past week, once again opening Pandora’s box of conference realignment.

With that in mind, Smith said college sports should turn its full attention to more pressing issues.

“I think the pause button (on College Football Playoff expansion) should be hit,” Smith told Yahoo Sports. “We need to evaluate the landscape and what it’s going to look like. We still need to evaluate the 12-team playoff. We don’t need to rush into that when there’s legitimate concerns that need to be addressed.”

A former member of the CFP committee, Smith has great influence in college sports. He raises concerns about the ever-changing conferences that will ultimately look drastically different from what we’re used to and how that affects the postseason.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has been in the news more than any other conference leader in the past couple of weeks. He was at the forefront of the of CFP expansion news, meeting secretly with other key figures to discuss the 12-team plan before it was revealed. He said he expected to hear skepticism about the plan even before the news of conference realignment.

“I respect that others can look at recent breaking news and say, ‘Let’s take a step back,’” Sankey said. “I didn’t expect a rubber stamp.”

“I was never walking into this with an assumption that something would happen quickly. It has nothing to do with recent news. … If others want to continue to deliberate, that’s not a surprise. I could have foreseen that with no breaking news.”

ESPN’s ownership of the TV rights to the College Football Playoff is another issue for many. The Big 12 responded to the Sooners and Longhorns’ departure by sending a “cease and desist” letter accusing the media company of encouraging the schools to leave the conference. ESPN denied this.

It has exclusive rights to the entire Playoff, as well as all of the New Year’s Six bowls through 2025.

The additions of Oklahoma and Texas are likely to bring many new viewers to the SEC Network, an ESPN channel. Sooners and Longhorns games are currently broadcast on FOX, which owns the rights to the Big 12. The move certainly enhances ESPN’s already strong national brand.

It’s clear the ramifications of conference realignment have already begun, and will ultimately impact not just the Big 12 and SEC but the entire sport.

Photo courtesy of Kirk Irwin/Getty Images.