Overview

• ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the Big Ten is exploring playoff fields of 24 or 28 teams, an idea Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti recently floated to conference athletic directors.
• In the reported 28-team model, the Big Ten and SEC would each get seven automatic bids, the ACC and Big 12 would get five each, with two automatic spots for other leagues and two at-larges, and conference title games would be scrapped.
• Rece Davis criticized the concept on ESPN’s pregame show, calling it absurd, as colleague Heather Dinich noted the Big Ten’s push stems from frustration with selection metrics and auto-bid preferences.
• CBS Sports reporting indicated stakeholders were caught off guard by the Big Ten’s internal models and that broader agreement on any expansion framework has not been reached.
• The 12-team College Football Playoff remains set for the 2025 season, while media have published illustrative 24-team brackets that heavily favor Big Ten and SEC representation without any formal adoption.