CFP board of managers expected to vote on 5+7 playoff format - ESPN

The College Football Playoff board of managers is expected to vote Feb. 20 on a model that would include the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams in the 12-team playoff this fall — a format change that could finally get the unanimous backing it needs if the Pac-12 agrees to it.

The Pac-12, which has dwindled to Washington State and Oregon State after drastic conference realignment, has been the lone holdout in the process, asking for time to sort through its legal issues and discuss future CFP revenue with the board. Speaking candidly to ESPN on Tuesday about the Pac-12's role in the future format, Washington State president Kirk Schulz, who represents the conference on the board, said, «The expectation is to hold a vote.»

«I believe there's a sense of, 'We're hearing you guys out like you asked for, the legal stuff has been largely settled in the Pac-12 Conference. It's time to move forward,'» said Schulz, who spoke favorably of the 5+7 model but cautioned not to make any assumptions.

Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, the chair of the CFP's board of managers, told ESPN he anticipates «we'll have this issue resolved one way or another.»

«I think it's a forgone conclusion from people in your profession, and where I sit and all across the college football landscape that there's an anticipation we'll have the 5+7,» he said. «Just a few months from now we'll be playing the playoff. Everyone needs to know what the format is. I hope we as a board can come to a resolution on this issue, for sure.»

The 5+7 model, which the commissioners proposed in response to the sweeping realignment that left college athletics with four «power» conferences, was presented to the presidents and