College Football Playoff Reveals Model for 12-Team Format amid Conference Realignment

College Football Playoff officials agreed Tuesday to adjust the format of the 12-team CFP beginning next season, going from six automatic qualifying spots for conference champions to five.

According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the original format called for six conference champs to automatically qualify and be joined by six at-large bids, but the format was changed to five automatic qualifiers and seven at-large teams on Tuesday.

The driving force behind the change was the crumbling of the Pac-12, which saw 10 of its members leave the conference, leaving only Washington State and Oregon State.

Andrew Marchand, Nicole Auerbach, Stewart Mandel and Chris Vannini of The Athletic also reported on the revenue split from the CFP meetings:

Currently the Power 5 leagues split about 80 percent of the CFP revenue, and each conference receives roughly the same share regardless of its appearance or performance in the postseason.

One source involved in the discussions said they expect the Big Ten and SEC to push for revenue shares larger than those given to the Big 12 and ACC, creating further separation between the two groups. The differentiation could be in the form of a larger percentage of revenue for the Big Ten and SEC on a per-league basis or on a per-school basis, the source said.

Since its inception during the 2014 season, the College Football Playoff has been a four-team tournament, but there were calls to expand almost since the beginning.

That expansion will finally happen next season, although it comes at a time when a great deal of turmoil is surrounding the alignment of the power conferences.

Starting in late 2022, a mass exodus occurred from the Pac-12, as USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington have left for the Big Ten; Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are leaving for the Big 12; and California and Stanford are going to the ACC, all beginning in the 2024 season.

The Pac-12 is currently unable to satisfy the NCAA's rules for what constitutes a proper conference, so a scheduling agreement was struck with the Mountain West Conference that will allow Washington State and Oregon State to play an MWC schedule without being official conference members in 2024.

While that could eventually lead to Washington State and Oregon State joining the Mountain West Conference, the deal gives the Pac-12 time to try to build its own conference back up.

The Pac-12 now has until 2026 to satisfy NCAA conference requirements, and if it is unable to do so, the conference will be dissolved.

Under the new CFP format, it is likely that the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 champions will receive automatic CFP berths, as will the top Group of Five conference champion.

The seven at-large berths are likely to go to teams from the four major conferences that are left in the wake of the Pac-12's downturn.