‘Alliance’ commissioners deny a collaborative effort to prevent College Football Playoff expansion

College Football Playoff expansion is not coming any time soon. That was revealed last week when the CFP announced it would be staying at 4 teams for at least the next 4 seasons.

In those announcements, it was reported that the ACC, B1G and Pac-12 were among the conferences to vote against expansion. Many fans will remember it was that trio that launched an “Alliance” that was expected to work together in scheduling games among other endeavors.

However, in a conversation with ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Adam Rittenberg, the commissioners of those conferences denied collaborating to vote against expansion. According to the commissioners, each one voted against expansion for their own reasons.

“I think that’s a narrative that certain folks benefit from having out there even if it’s not true,” said Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said “a voting bloc” doesn’t exist between the trio of leaders. B1G Commissioner Kevin Warren also discussed the idea of differences in opinions not needing to be divisive during negotiations.

“Anytime someone penalizes a person or a group for asking questions, or to say we need more information, we have to work through it,” Warren said. “… What we need to do is continually come together and stop being judgmental and put our heads together and continually work through these issues. If we do that, we’ll land in a place that makes sense for everyone.”

‘Alliance’ bosses push back against CFP critics in interview with @CFBHeather, @aadelsonESPN and me.

ACC’s Jim Phillips: “This isn’t a voting bloc.”

Pac-12’s George Kliavkoff: “Each of us came to our own conclusion about why we couldn’t vote yes.”https://t.co/wf5KtRNlPi

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) February 25, 2022

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.