By Jay Berry
Pardon The Interruption’s Michael Wilbon recently called out his employer for their greed surrounding the expansion of the college football playoff, and he’s not wrong.
Some people, me included, thought moving to a six—or eight-team playoff would’ve been an excellent transition from four. So far, the 12-team playoff has worked, for the most part, except for maybe the seeding.
Before the 12-team playoff began, there were talks about moving to a 16-team playoff. That would add teams that didn’t qualify and didn’t deserve to go to the 12-team playoffs.
There’s no turning back now. The money involved is too much for the network and those involved to reduce the number of teams. Wilbon said it’s a greed play by those involved with the sport.
“They’re not going to go from 12 to 8 (teams) because this is a greed play. It’s a money play for everybody involved, including this network.”
"They're not going to go from 12 to 8 (teams) because this is a greed play. It's a money play for everybody involved, including this network."
Michael Wilbon lays into ESPN for its involvement in the expanded CFP, while Tony Kornheiser has some words for SEC diehards: pic.twitter.com/fN1iPybu0c
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 3, 2025
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“Look, I’m not naive about the business of sports, but what’s happening with the college football playoff expansion is nothing short of greed. My employer, ESPN, is a major player in this game, and let’s be real, they’re driving the bus on this one. The network’s insatiable appetite for more games, more matchups, and more revenue is warping the very fabric of the sport. “The argument that expansion is necessary to give more teams a chance is a convenient smokescreen. The truth is, this is about one thing: money. More games mean more broadcast rights, more sponsorships, and more cash flowing into the coffers of ESPN and the NCAA. And don’t even get me started on the impact this will have on the student-athletes, who are already shouldering an unsustainable burden. It’s time for someone to take a step back and ask: what’s the real cost of this greed?”
At this point, the only realistic changes are to tweak the seeding process, which Pardon the Interruption co-host Tony Kornheiser also expressed.
Kornheiser believes that SEC bias influenced the decision-making process, a concern that ESPN has faced criticism for throughout the year, especially since it owns the media rights to both the playoff and the SEC.
“I don’t hate it; I just think it needs adjusting. One of the things we just saw is it belies the fact that the SEC is by far the best conference. That’s not true. Tennessee went out in their first game, and Georgia went out in their first game. Texas is in, but they’re not really an SEC team yet. They came in the transfer portal, and Alabama then lost to Michigan in a bowl game, so I don’t want to hear any more about how they got hosed by the committee.”
A 16-team playoff is still possible, and 14 teams may be the next move. Discussions about the College Football Playoff expanding to a 14-team format in 2026 are still ongoing among college football officials.
The semi-finals kick off Thursday night with the Orange Bowl and then the Cotton Bowl on Friday. Two Big Ten teams, One SEC/Big12 team, and an independent are in the final four bracket.
