Home Sports Sources: SEC, Big Ten to hold second AD meeting to explore CFP format changes and more

Sources: SEC, Big Ten to hold second AD meeting to explore CFP format changes and more

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ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 19: A general view of the CFP logo at midfield inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium before the start of the College Football Playoff championship game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 19 January. 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)

ATLANTA – The SEC and Big Ten are scheduled to hold a second joint meeting of their athletic directors next month, where conference leaders are expected to further explore the future of the College Football Playoff format.

The meeting, scheduled for Feb. 19 in New Orleans, comes a week before CFP commissioners meet in Dallas to discuss the future of the playoffs, their format and governance structure. Those with knowledge of the meeting spoke to Yahoo Sports on condition of anonymity.

The meeting of the SEC and Big Ten marks a second step in the budding relationship between two leagues that announced a partnership last spring. Their athletic directors met in Nashville in October, a historic event and one of the first meetings of two major conference administrators in recent NCAA history.

The February 19 meeting is expected to focus on the CFP’s format and governance, as well as the transition to a post-agreement world in which athletes share revenue. The historic agreement between the NCAA and the power leagues on the House case is pending approval in April and implementation in July.

But perhaps the most interesting topic is the future format of the expanded playoffs.

As part of an agreement reached last spring, the Big Ten and the SEC believe they have authority over any changes to the playoff format beginning with the 2026 postseason, the first of a new six-year CFP extension. Changes for 2025 playoffs (unlikely at this time) Require unanimity among the 10 FBS conference commissioners and the Notre Dame athletic director..

While executives agreed last spring on a future revenue distribution model, with heavy weight going to the SEC and the Big Ten, a future format was not finalized. But certain “protections” were agreed to, including an automatic berth for the five highest-ranked conference champions; a field of 12 or 14 teams; and qualification guarantees for independents like Notre Dame related to their place in the rankings.

Format is sometimes a divisive issue.

Many expect the Big Ten (and perhaps the SEC this time as well) to again propose a format that assigns multiple automatic qualifiers to individual conferences.

Is a 14-team College Football Playoff on the way with multi-automatic qualifiers per league? (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)

A 14-team model that designates four automatic qualifiers for the SEC and Big Ten is being discussed; two each for the ACC and Big 12; one for the best champion of the Group of Five; and one at-large, going to Notre Dame if it finishes ranked inside the top 14 (or, if not, the next highest-ranked team after automatic qualifiers are selected). Officials describe it as a 4-4-2-2-1+1 model, with the top two finishers receiving a bye in the first round. It is also a way to limit the subjectivity and power of the selection committee.

The Big Ten made a similar proposal during meetings last spring that was roundly rejected. That proposal included one less automatic qualifier for the SEC and Big Ten and more in big spots: 3-3-2-2-1+3. Under either proposal, conference championship games would likely become less valuable and a reimagined championship weekend could include conference games for automatic berths, something Yahoo Sports reported last month.

In an interview with ESPN on Sunday, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips says his league is weighing possible changes to the championship game weekend, suggesting a play-in style tournament.

“Conference championship games are important, as long as we make them important, right?” Phillips said. “Do you play two against three? You go through the regular season and whoever wins the regular season, you just park them to the side, and then you play the second-place team against the third-place team in your championship game. “So you have a regular-season champion and then you have a conference tournament or postseason champion.”

Many believe the conference championship games within an expanded playoff need a reevaluation. a story Yahoo Sports explored last month. However, conference title games generate big profits for powerhouse leagues and are tied to their league television contracts.

If the 4-4-2-2-1+1 model had been used this year, the SEC and the Big 12 would have each gotten one more team in the field (Alabama and Iowa State).

The two conferences also have much to discuss outside of the CFP.

Power League commissioners are making key decisions in transforming college sports into a more professionalized entity, plagued by unprecedented problems such as The situation between Wisconsin and Miami.. The P4 has created a “transition team” of athletic directors from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC to explore issues.

Leagues are responsible for creating new infrastructure to manage and enforce the limited revenue sharing concept as part of the agreement. Schools will be allowed to distribute NIL payment directly to athletes for a maximum amount of at least $20.5 million next academic year.

A new law enforcement arm (not the NCAA) will have a clearinghouse, run by Deloitte, that will approve or reject settlements between athletes and third parties affiliated with a school, such as boosters or booster collectives. Members of Deloitte’s seven-person information center team have been meeting with university administrators over the past few weeks in an effort to educate them about the process, one that remains murky. Schools are already preparing to exceed the limit of the common income fund.

They became cloudier last week with the Department of Education Guidance on Title IX and a Justice Department presentation to the judge criticizing the maximum salary. Both opinions could soon change as a new presidential administration replaces the leadership of the DOE and DOJ.

However, there are more obstacles. Several objections have been raised against the deal as they expire at the end of this month. Many of the objections are related to the thousands of staff cuts expected as schools align with the New settlement template and scholarship structure..

Outside of the House case, proxy conferences are integral to a reshaped governance model at both the NCAA and CFP. In fact, the power conferences proposed a governance model that expands their autonomous lawmaking powers within the NCAA and also gives them decision-making powers in NCAA postseason championships.

When the two conferences met last October, the athletic directors also discussed a scheduling agreement with each other. Such moves could generate additional revenue for the leagues, presumably from television networks seeking matchups of the sport’s biggest brands.

Discussions are expected to go beyond the regular season with the possibility of what officials describe as a “revised postseason” for those programs that do not advance to the CFP. Administrators are exploring ways to organize more matchups that pair teams from the two leagues instead of the current matchups in the bowl agreement. The bowl deals expire after the 2025 season.

All of this is an effort to generate untapped revenue at a time when schools are preparing to spend more than $20 million annually on an athlete revenue-sharing concept tied to the House antitrust agreement.

To that end, SEC school executives continue to discuss adding a ninth conference game starting in 2026 (the Big Ten already plays nine). The conference is somewhat divided on the concept, and a requirement for any ninth league game involves receiving additional revenue from ESPN, the league’s media rights owner.

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