Sources: CFP board of managers to meet, with 'momentum' toward playoff expansion

The College Football Playoff's board of managers will hold a virtual meeting on Friday that could accelerate playoff expansion as early as 2024 if the 11 presidents and chancellors who comprise the sport's most powerful group vote on a format and unanimously agree to it, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.

«There's momentum,» a source with knowledge of the conversations told ESPN. «There's definitely momentum.»

The source indicated it was 50-50 whether there would be any kind of vote. Sports Illustrated first reported the meeting.

CFP executive director Bill Hancock declined to confirm or deny the report. The CFP's management committee, which is composed of the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, is expected to meet next week to continue its expansion discussions, but the members are waiting to hear what the presidents decide — if anything — on Friday.

If there is movement toward an expanded playoff within the current contract, this meeting would give the commissioners an opportunity to pore over the details of the structure set by the presidents.

The CFP is entering the final four years of a 12-year contract with ESPN that expires following the 2025 season. In order to expand before the contract ends, there must be a unanimous decision by the presidents and chancellors.

Typically, the commissioners are tasked with figuring out the model, and if they can unanimously agree on it, they would present it to the board of managers for its approval, as the presidents and chancellors have the ultimate authority over the playoff.

Following 10 months of debates and often tense meetings filled with mistrust that played out publicly, the commissioners ended the discussion with an 8-3 vote in