Big Ten open to meeting SEC scheduling demand for 24-team College Football Playoff field
CBS Sports • • sports
Key Points:
- The Big Ten is willing to require its teams to play 10 games against power-conference opponents, meeting the SEC's demand, if the SEC supports expanding the College Football Playoff (CFP) to 24 teams.
- This concession signals a potential breakthrough between the Big Ten and SEC, the two conferences with veto power over CFP format changes, after a long standoff over expansion.
- The SEC has insisted on 10 "qualifying events" against power-conference teams or Notre Dame as a condition for backing a larger playoff field, a standard already required by the ACC, Big 12, and SEC.
- Expanding the CFP to 16 or 24 teams would likely eliminate conference championship games, which generate significant TV revenue, raising concerns about financial impacts and prompting discussions on new broadcast deals.
- CFP decision-makers face a December 1 deadline to finalize expansion plans for the next season and are considering triggering a 30-day negotiating window with ESPN to explore new broadcasting rights amid expansion talks.
