College Football Playoff to expand to 12 teams as soon as 2024

After years of debate the College Football Playoffs are set to expand

The landscape of college football is continuing to change, as The College Football Playoff's Board of Managers on Friday voted to expand the playoff field from four teams 12.

While there is no date set as to when it will go into play, According to CBS Sports they are looking to do so as soon as possible. You might be wondering who is voting on this. It is an 11-member board, which includes university presidents and chancellors representing each of the 10 FBS conferences, along with Notre Dame president John Jenkins.

This vote was just the first step of a few as explained by CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd who entailed the next step saying:

The board on Friday approved expansion as a concept. It is now up to the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, those who comprise the CFP Management Committee, to oversee implementation. The committee is scheduled meet on Thursday in Irving, Texas.

Dodd also explained that the committee will have to determine when it will go into effect saying:

It could be instituted as soon as 2024 or perhaps after the CFP's contract with ESPN expires ahead of the 2026 season. The committee will also determine how to decide which teams will qualify for the playoff.

With expanding the playoff, it was estimated that playoff's value would increase from $600 million to $1.2 billion. As of now, ESPN holds the rights to the playoff games through 2026. 

The FBS level now joins the FCS level whose playoffs currently have 24 teams, and have had some form of a playoff dating back to 1978 when they started with four teams. It always seem inevitable that the playoff expanded, as even with people wanting the "four best teams" to play for a championship there was always restlessness about whether or not the committee got the team right. 

With expanding to 12 teams, it is likely that the playoff will consist of six automatic qualifiers, which would be the six highest-ranked conference champions, and then the remains six spots would be at-large bids.