Sources: College football coaches throwing support behind 24-team CFP format

Coaches are swinging their support behind a remade and expanded college football postseason. The American Football Coaches Association voted last week to recommend that college leaders implement a playoff with “the maximum number of participants,” discontinue conference championship games, preserve the Army-Navy game’s exclusive time window but hold other games on that day, and end the playoff by the second week of January. In their annual meeting, the AFCA’s Board of Trustees discussed and adopted the recommendations, AFCA executive director Craig Bohl told Yahoo Sports.

The association is expected to publicly release its decisions soon, most notable of which is the nod of support for a 24-team playoff and the elimination of league title games. Though the board has no authority within the NCAA or College Football Playoff governance structure, the group includes prominent coaching figures with influence over decision-makers, such as the conference commissioners and university presidents presiding over the CFP. The AFCA board includes names like Bret Bielema (Illinois), Brent Venables (Oklahoma), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt), Rhett Lashlee (SMU), Joey McGuire (Texas Tech) and Pat Fitzgerald (Michigan State).

The coaches association is the latest group to express support, publicly or privately, for a significant expansion of the sport’s postseason event — a divisive topic that has divided CFP decision-makers over the years. The 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director — members of the CFP’s governance committee — met two weeks ago for their latest debate over the next iteration of what is now a 12-team playoff. At the center of those discussions is a 16-team or 24-team model — the former supported by the SEC and latter by the Big Ten.

The two conferences must agree for any format to be adopted. Over the last month, influential leaders on the CFP governance committee such as Big 12 and ACC commissioners Brett Yormark and Jim Philips, as well as Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, have swung their support behind a 24-team field — a stark change from a few months ago when much of the committee, aside from Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, supported a 16-team playoff. The most-discussed 24-team model is an all at-large field determined through the CFP rankings, with an automatic spot for the Group of Six leagues.