CFP management committee discussed key change to schedule ahead of expansion, per report
The College Football Playoff is set to expand to 12 teams in the near future, with the 6 highest-ranked conference champions joined by 6 at-large teams. What’s up for discussion is when that will take place: it’s slated for no later than the 2026 season, but the CFP management committee is exploring starting it as soon as 2024.
And with the expanded playoff field could come a shift in the college football calendar, per SI.com’s Ross Dellinger. Thanksgiving week is traditionally when rivalry games take place across the country. That said, with more Playoff teams will come more Playoff games, with discussion starting as to when exactly those games will occur. One concept, in particular, was tossed around:
In this concept, the official start of the season (Week 1) would move up to Week 0, thus shifting up the calendar by a week and expanding a tight December window in which to play the 11 playoff games. In this scenario, Rivalry Week would move into the third week of November and conference title games would kick off on Thanksgiving Week.
It’s just one concept being considered.
That’s just some of the specifics being ironed out. But first, when the expanded field kicks in will need to come into focus. And it sounds as if that decision could be made sooner rather than later.