There is a piece left to College football The knockout expansion problem needs to be completed to clear the way for CFP to expand to 12 teams.
Everything came together Wednesday night when the Rose Bowl game organizers informed College Football Qualifiers officials that they were open to changing agreements for the 2024 and ’25 seasons. , clearing the way for CFP expansion.
A person familiar with discussions between game organizers and CFP officials told The Associated Press that the Rose Bowl is ready to be flexible and wants to continue to be part of the knockout stages beyond 2025.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the presidents and prime ministers overseeing the knockout match still need to give final approval on the expansion plans. ESPN first reported on the deal between the Rose Bowl and the CFP.
University leaders who make up the CFP governing council pushed Rose Bowl officials to make a decision Wednesday on whether they will amend contracts for 2024 and ’25. and allowed the knockout round to triple in size from four teams to 12.
The Rose Bowl is expected to feature a traditional Pac-12-Big Ten game during those seasons. To have a 12-team knockout, the Rose Bowl needs to host a quarter-final in the traditional time slot on January 1.
Rose Bowl officials asked the CFP to make sure the game would still be playing on New Year’s Day in a new format for 2026 and beyond.
CFP leaders faltered.
The original 12-year contract CFP has with ESPN will expire after the 2025-26 season. CFP officials were not willing to do any binding commitments on college football playoffs after 2025.
The College Rugby Qualifiers expansion is expected to bring in an additional $450 million in total revenue over the final two years of the current contract.
The Rose Bowl is one of six leagues that currently alternately host the CFP semi-finals every three years. Five other leagues and the host city for the championship games scheduled to be held after the 2024 and ’25 seasons have agreed to accommodate the new CFP format.
If the Rose Bowl had thwarted the initial expansion, the 122-year-old bowl game dubbed the Granddaddy of Them All could have been dropped from the next series of deals with CFP.
Two weeks ago, Rose Bowl organizers told the AP in a statement: “We do not intend to be the lone barrier preventing expansion from taking place before the end of its current cycle. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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