College football ready for 12 team playoff

The NCAA is prepared to expand its college football playoff structure.

A process that started 14 1/2 months ago with an optimistic rollout of an ambitious plan, and then was derailed as conference leaders haggled over details and questioned each other’s motivations, is now finally moving forward.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the College Football Playoff Board of Managers has decided on a 12-team CFP format during their meeting Friday.

A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that the presidents would like to have the new format in place as soon as the 2024 season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made.

Back in February, The NCAA announced it would stick with the same four-team format through the end of its current contract, which runs through the end of the 2025-26 college football season.

In a follow up tweet, Thamel said, “One of the main drivers of this College Football Playoff expansion was money. Presidents felt as if they were leaving too much on the table. Monday could end up a powerful motivator for starting prior to 2026.”

The NCAA officially moved on from its BCS format following the 2014 regular season with Oregon, Florida State, Alabama and Ohio State debuting in its inaugural season. Ohio State came out on top of Oregon, 42-20.

The 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship will be played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, CA.