Big Ten, SEC demands for College Football Playoff bids on pause as leaders look to assess future landscape

The pause button has been hit on one of the biggest college football stories in 2024, and it’s largely flown under the radar.

Earlier this year, the Big Ten and SEC were in the process of what amounted to a hostile takeover of the College Football Playoff. Already succeeding in securing a combined 59% of media rights revenue under the new CFP contract with ESPN, they also socialized the idea of essentially taking over the bracket.

The reaction from within the system was far from positive. The attempted coup peaked — or hit rock bottom depending on how you view it — in February with reports the two super conferences were attempting to grab the top two spots in the playoff for their respective champions beginning in 2026 when the new contract goes into effect. 

That was in addition to seeking three automatic qualifiers each for the two leagues. Final tally: 10 combined spots between the Big Ten and SEC. 

“I didn’t agree with it,” one administrator in the room at the time told CBS Sports this week. “It would potentially de-legitimize the playoff to some degree. No league has that. No league gives you a lot of [access] because you have money.”

Pushback from the rest of college football was so significant that such talk diminished before flaming out altogether. In fact, a settlement of the issue — perhaps expected when CFP leaders meet again in September — looks like it will be delayed. 

The 10 FBS conferences plus Notre Dame have seemingly agreed to let this season play out under the 12-team format before making any further decisions about structure for 2026 and beyond.

“I’m just a humble one of 11,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said last week. “I thought it would be wise to get through this year. I don’t think we should be looking at format before we have a 12-team experience.” 

Let’s have a deeper look at why the once-aggressive talks of expanding the CFP sooner rather than later have cooled. 

5+7 model works … for now: The default playoff setting is the one debuting this season — a 12-team bracket with the five highest-ranked conference champions earning an automatic berth. The top four teams earn a first-round bye, which leaves seven at-large teams. For context, here’s how a 12-team field would have looked last season.

“I think the selection committee and the CFP Management Committee [commissioners] have to cope with what that means, those seven…