CFP unanimously approves 5+7 model for new 12-team playoff - ESPN

The College Football Playoff board of managers unanimously approved a model that will guarantee the five highest-ranked conference champions' inclusion in the expanded 12-team field this fall, along with the next seven highest-ranked teams, the CFP announced Tuesday.

After months of delay at the behest of the dwindling Pac-12, the decision was made Tuesday morning in a virtual meeting of the 10 FBS commissioners and the Notre Dame president, the Rev. John Jenkins. The vote had to be unanimous for the 5+7 format to be approved, and the Pac-12 had either previously abstained or asked for a delay as it worked on determining its future following sweeping conference realignment.

Washington State president Kirk Schulz, who represents the Pac-12 on the board, told ESPN last week he would confer with Oregon State president Jayathi Y. Murthy and «be ready to vote» on Tuesday. Neither school can qualify for an automatic bid as a conference champion in each of the next two seasons, so Schulz conceded the seven at-large bids would be more beneficial to them than the original proposal of six conference champions and six at-large teams. That format was proposed before the Pac-12 lost USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon to the Big Ten, Cal and Stanford to the ACC, and Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado to the Big 12.

The Pac-12 and Mountain West have agreed to a temporary scheduling partnership in which Oregon State and Washington State will play at least six MWC opponents in 2024.

«For our two schools in the Pac-12 as it's currently configured, there is no question that five-seven, with seven at-larges, is better than six at-larges,» Schulz told ESPN. "… There's no question our football coaches are going to want to compete for one