CFP’s 12-team plan takes next step

College Football Playoff expansion took another step forward Friday as the full group of commissioners who manage the postseason system wrapped up two days of digging into a plan for a 12-team format that would revamp the national championship. The first debate about what the final version of a new playoff will look like has emerged: The Pac-12 is pushing for each Power Five conference to receive an automatic berth. Expect at lot more negotiating to come. “This is the beginning of a long, ongoing process,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said as he departed Big Ten headquarters in suburban Chicago. There’s no announced timeline and the earliest expansion would be possible is 2023 if there are no big snags. Change could be as far out as the 2026 season after the current media rights contract with ESPN expires. The proposal put forth by a subcommittee that included Bowlsby doesn’t address when a new format could be implemented. Next week, the group reconvenes in Dallas to present the plan to the CFP’s Board of Managers, the university presidents who have the final say. Before anything becomes a done deal, the commissioners want to hear from their local constituents: athletic directors, coaches and players.