Bill Hancock doesn't expect six- or eight-team College Football Playoff soon

Bill Bender

Bill Hancock doesn't expect six- or eight-team College Football Playoff soon image

TAMPA, Fla. — Don’t expect the College Football Playoff to expand to six or eight teams anytime soon.

That’s not the sentiment Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff, is expressing right now. Hancock addressed reporters at the Tampa Convention Center on Sunday, and playoff expansion was a popular topic. Hancock, however, said that likely won’t happen through the length of the current 12-year contract.

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"The only thing that happens after six years is determining whether the Cotton, Fiesta and Peach will remain in the rotation,” Hancock said. “That has nothing to do with the format. The format is in place for the 12 years."

As for expanding to six or eight teams, Hancock said there has been no movement on that from the management committee.

"I don't sense any groundswell from our leadership for a change, but it would require starting all over again with a new contract,” Hancock said.

Hancock defended the four-team playoff as a protecting the regular season. In that regard, he doesn’t see the need for expansion.

MORE: How a six-, eight-, 12- and 16-team playoff would look

"The disappointment that team No. 5 feels would be the same disappointment that team No. 9 feels,” Hancock said. “There wouldn't be any change in that. For me, it's about the regular season. Our regular season is so compelling, and I don't think our leadership would do anything to diminish the regular season."

The College Football Playoff is only in its third year, and ends this season with a rematch with No. 1 Alabama (14-0) against No. 2 Clemson (13-1) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Monday.

Hancock also addressed the committee’s decision to put one-loss Ohio State in the playoff ahead of two-loss Penn State, which won the Big Ten championship. The Buckeyes’ 31-0 loss to Clemson in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl did not lead to any second-guessing. 

"It was unique and the issue was with Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan having all defeated each other it presented a challenge for the committee,” Hancock said. “We had that many times when I was doing basketball, and it was tough for our group."

Again, Hancock pointed to the double-overtime thriller between Ohio State and Michigan, which the Buckeyes won 30-27, as a reason against further expansion.

MORE: Alabama vs. Clemson: Numbers that make the matchup

“What would Ohio State and Michigan have meant if there had been an eight-team tournament?” Hancock asked. “Both would’ve have been in. It still would’ve been Ohio State and Michigan with all the tradition, but it wouldn’t have meant the same. It wouldn’t have meant near as much. Our focus on the regular season is unwavering.”

To that effect, Hancock does not want the College Football Playoff to bear too much resemblance to the NFL playoffs.

"We wouldn't want any game at the end of the season to be a game where people rested their players,” Hancock said. “We don't have that in college football."

Hancock also said the committee is searching for four new members to replace Condoleezza Rice, Barry Alvarez, Bobby Johnson and Lloyd Carr. That’s the biggest change for the committee heading into the 2017 season.

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.