AP Photo/Nell Redmond
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said the
conference’s members are unified against an imminent expansion of the College
Football Playoff.
“The membership of the ACC is very
much aligned in its position that now is not the time to expand the
College Football Playoff,” Phillips told reporters Friday.
He laid out several concerns shared by
the ACC programs, per Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated:
Ross Dellenger @RossDellenger
Phillips cites several issues complicating CFP expansion: length of season, academic calendar, student athletes healthcare, NCAA governance structure, federal legislation, impact on bowls.
Ross Dellenger @RossDellenger
If ACC would be in favor of expansion in future, why not support it now?
Phillips lists 3 “buckets” of concerns: (1) impact of additional games on students; (2) disruption of college athletics (NIL & transfer portal); (3) needs a holistic review of football calendar.
The ACC failed to send a team to the
College Football Playoff for the first time in the eight-year history
of the four-team tournament this season. Clemson had earned six
straight berths from 2015 through 2020, while Florida State and Notre Dame each represented
the conference once over the years.
Phillips explained Tigers players weren’t
in favor of a longer schedule to accommodate a potential eight- or
12-team postseason bracket.
“They don’t want to play more
games,” he said.
Clemson played 15 games four times over
the past six years when it appeared in the CFP National Championship
Game. A 12- or 16-team field would increase the max games total to
17, barring reductions elsewhere in the schedule.
Mountain West Conference commissioner
Craig Thompson told ESPN’s Heather Dinich last week the most recent
proposal centered around a 12-team playoff with automatic bids for
all of the Power Five conference champions and the top-ranked Group
of Five champion.
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said
he felt “strongly” the winners of the Power Five titles deserve a
berth in the CFP field.
“It’s just very important that we
have the automatic qualifiers for the five conferences,” Warren
told Dinich. “It’s just the demands of the schedule … and I
strongly believe that if you are crowned the Big Ten champion, that
you should have an opportunity to participate for a national
championship.”
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco, whose
conference earned its first playoff bid in 2021 thanks to Cincinnati, said there are still “some differences” that must get worked out, including
the Group of Five’s belief certain teams are given preferred
treatment “based on their brand.”
Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel reported
Monday the sides remained at a “stalemate” with no sign a final
agreement was close.
“Everyone is more concerned about
their own silo than someone else’s,” Big 12 commissioner Bob
Bowlsby said.
Given the lack of compromise so far, it
appears hope of expansion in the short term is starting to fade.