The ACC doesn’t want the College Football Playoff to expand anytime soon.
Commissioner Jim Phillips said Friday that the conference was united in its opposition to expansion of the four-team format. Postseason expansion progress has slowed considerably since the playoff floated the idea of an eight or 12-team format this summer. And opposition like the ACC’s is a big reason why.
The four-team playoff format has been in place since the 2014 season and there are four years left on the current contract with ESPN. The current playoff rotates its semifinals among six bowls before a national championship game played at a different site each season.
The details of an eight or 12-team playoff have been a big sticking point. Bowls want to host playoff games, but teams seeded Nos. 5-12 in a 12-team playoff would be facing the prospect of four neutral-site postseason games if every playoff game was at a bowl site. Conferences are also unable to come to an agreement on how the playoff would be filled. Would conference champions automatically get a bid? How many spots would non-Power Five teams be guaranteed? Would the playoff field simply consist of the top teams in the committee’s end of season rankings?
Some of the ACC’s opposition centers around the number of games that an expanded playoff would create. A team could play as many as 17 games if it went to a conference title game and played four games in a 12-team playoff.
Clemson is the only true ACC team to make the playoff
While the ACC may be in favor of playoff expansion after the current four-team contract runs out, the conference is likely denying its 13 other teams outside of Clemson a shot at the postseason in the short term.
Clemson is the only team from the conference to make the playoff in the eight years of the format not counting Notre Dame’s appearance as an ACC…
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