Efforts to expand the College Football Playoff field are on hold after it was announced Friday that no agreement could be reached on proposals. Some of those reasons are practical, but one in particular could prove to be a significant roadblock to expansion.
While there were disagreements on format and size among the various conferences, there was one other concern, according to College Football Playoff board chair Mark Keenum. The Rose Bowl does not want to give up its New Year’s timeslot, which is proving problematic for possible playoff scheduling.
Keenum says 3 obstacles prevented expansion:
– format (8v12; AQs)
– # of xtra gamesAnd… Rose Bowl.
“We’ve got a bowl with a keen interest in preserving their date & time. That’s part of the negotiating package with a media provider. Does that add value or cost value for CFP?”
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 18, 2022
The Rose Bowl represents a difficult issue that the NCAA cannot simply ignore. This also raises a whole array of questions. Will the Rose Bowl maintain its prestige if lesser teams are involved, as the case may be if the playoff expands? There is a great deal of pageantry around that game in particular, and it cannot simply be pushed aside.
There are certainly other issues for leadership here, and those may or may not be addressed down the line. The future of the Rose Bowl, at least in its current iteration, is clearly going to be a major one going forward as well.
