Behind the Pac-2's attempt to leverage the College Football Playoff amid final expansion negotiations

With just over 200 days until kickoff of the 2024 college football season, two schools are wielding power through one veto vote

By Dennis Dodd Feb 5, 2024 at 2:55 pm ET• 7 min read

On Jan. 8, the morning of the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship, the commissioners and conference presidents who oversee the organization (known as the CFP Management Committee) met in Houston to finalize what was thought to be a formality. The goal: address the final access point for the expanded 12-team playoff field starting next season.

In the wake of realignment and the demise of the Pac-12, it has been thought that the 6+6 model would become a 5+7 model with the number of conference champion automatic qualifiers decreasing from six to five. (The four highest-ranked such teams would receive byes into the second round.)

"I would be shocked if we don't have a 5-7 playoff," said CFP Board of Managers chairman Mark Keenum, president at Mississippi State, on that day. "The Pac-12 Conference has asked to wait a couple of weeks."

Four weeks later, there has been no movement on the issue, and there really isn't a Pac-12, either. What's left of the conference -- Oregon State and Washington State -- might as well be considered the "Pac-2." The plucky leftovers from the Pac-12 asked to delay the vote during that Jan. 8 meeting.