K-State AD Gene Taylor supports playoff expansion ... with one caveat for Big 12
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State AD Gene Taylor says he is leaning toward a 24-team College Football Playoff.
- Taylor supports the Big 12 sending four or five teams to the expanded playoff field.
- Taylor says conference title games may need reconsideration, not outright elimination.
Should the College Football Playoff follow in the footsteps of the NCAA Tournament and expand?
That is one of the hottest topics in college sports at the moment.
It seems like every conference commissioner, athletic director and coach has an opinion. Many fans think the CFP should remain at 12 teams. But there are experts who prefer a 16-team model. Some officials are beginning to push for 24 teams.
Kansas State AD Gene Taylor has a preferred number in mind.
“I have mixed emotions on it,” he said, “but the more conversations I hear about 24 and the benefits of that, I’m beginning to lean towards that. Part of me used to think, look, we just expanded to 12. Let’s live with 12 for a few years. Then I thought 16 was the right number. But when we talk as a conference, I think there are benefits of 24.”
Taylor says he likes the idea of the Big 12 sending four or five teams to the playoff every season.
An expanded CFP field would create more opportunities for K-State to reach the postseason. Only the Big 12 champion (Arizona State in 2024 and Texas Tech in 2025) earned a berth in the past two playoff fields, which featured 12 teams. Perhaps expansion would open doors for Big 12 teams that can play their way into the top 25.
The FCS already uses a 24-team model. Taylor also likes that symmetry.
But he is only interested in major playoff expansion if the Big 12, and potentially other conferences, can figure out an appropriate new way to crown a league champion.
In order to expand the CFP to 24 teams, conference championship games may need to be eliminated. Otherwise, the national championship game will need to be pushed back and certain student-athletes will be asked to play an exorbitant amount of games.
How does a conference with 16 (or more) teams crown a champion without a league title game? And how does a conference make up for the money lost from not staging a championship game?
Good questions.
“I don’t know how you do that when you’re not playing everybody,” Taylor said. “Every conference is going to have the same issue. You also have to find a way to make up the dollars that you lose. I think our conference championship is worth around $50 million. We can’t just give that up.”
Taylor also wants equal revenue sharing for an expanded playoff.
“Right now the SEC and the Big Ten get more distribution than the ACC and the Big 12 do,” Taylor said. “We need to make sure that it is equal again. All those pieces have to come together in order for this to work. But I’m leaning more towards 24 than I used to. If we’re going to expand beyond 12, we might as well go to 24. I’m not sure what 16 does for anyone.”