College fans were hit with brutal news Friday morning.
Despite being told several months back that there was a chance the playoff would be expanding to 12-teams, the CFP Board of Managers announced that it won’t happen until 2026 at the earliest. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Statement by Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff » https://t.co/4cmq3XtWIk #CFBPlayoff 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/KzcEspe5Gh
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) February 18, 2022
Executive Director of the College Football Playoff Bill Hancock released the following statement Friday:
The Board of Managers has accepted a recommendation from the Management Committee to continue the current four-team playoff for the next four years, as called for in the CFP’s original 12-year plan. At the same time, the Board expects the Management Committee to continue its discussions of a new format that would go into effect for the 2026-27 season.
Statement by Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff » https://t.co/4cmq3XtWIk #CFBPlayoff 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/KzcEspe5Gh
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) February 18, 2022
This is beyond disgraceful. How the hell can the committee do this to college football fans? We desperately need to fix the playoff, and we need to fix it now and not in 2026.
Why are we making this so hard? It should be very easy! Take the P5 champions, the highest-ranked G5 team and six at-large bids.
Boom, I just gave you the perfect format for the CFP and I did it in a matter of seconds.
BREAKING: The College Football Playoff announces the format will remain four teams through the 2025 season, abandoning efforts to expand to 12 before the end of the current 12-year contract with ESPN.
The management committee will now focus on a new playoff format for 2026.— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) February 18, 2022
This is all made much worse because fans got our hopes up that we were expanding to 12 teams. Why did we think that? Because it was what we were told!
Now, the rug has been pulled out from under us and fans are left holding the bag.
I’m os disappointed right now that I’m at a loss for words. What a disgraceful day for the sport we all love.