Leaders of the College Football Playoff took a deeper dive into conversations about a 24-team field at a meeting Wednesday in Denver, but there are still more questions than answers about the logistics of what the expanded field would look like if it began in 2027, executive director Rich Clark told ESPN.
"We did have some discussion about 16 [teams], but I will say that the majority of the discussion was about 24," Clark said. "I think 16 is -- from some of the operational elements -- we probably have more answers for 16 because it's a bit closer to 12 and what we're doing now, so that drove the discussion more to 24 because it is so different and there's so many other variables that we have to consider."
Clark said they didn't put any dates on paper to see how a 24-team field would play out on the 2027 calendar. He said CFP media consultants attended the meeting, but they "didn't actually get into numbers as far as revenue goes."
One of the biggest questions the commissioners have had is whether revenue generated from a 24-team playoff could compensate for the loss of revenue from their conference championship games, which would likely be eliminated to make room for more playoff games in a 24-team field.
"We more talked about scheduling and what the different options would look like, and that's really important for us because there's a few questions that the commissioners had that we need to be able to answer for them," Clark said. "I think they gave us some clarity and some guidance to help us to really get to some of those answers."
If the format is going to change in time for the 2027 season, the decision needs to be made by Dec. 1.
The Big Ten and SEC have the bulk of control over the future format. If they can't agree, it will stay at 12 teams. At the SEC's spring meetings last month, commissioner Greg Sankey said that he wasn't opposed to 24 but that the league still favors 16.
Clark said the next step is for the CFP staff to work with their media advisers to give a more detailed report of what the 24-team field would look like. The next scheduled meeting isn't until September, but they could add one in August if the staff can gather more information by then.
"I'll be honest, every time we gave an answer, two or three more questions would pop out of that," he said. "That's how good decisions are made. So we walked away with a list of things that we have to figure out and work through and give them some options."
The Big Ten initiated the idea of a 24-team field, and Clark said the league "certainly has brought some of the answers to the questions, but then other commissioners are coming from different perspectives and they have other concerns.
"So all conferences don't view this in the same way, and all conferences have different concerns and questions that we need to answer so that they could all make an informed decision," he said. "But it was a healthy conversation."
Clark said the CFP is considering changing the recusal policy and also discussed "some changes to our metrics," but declined to get into specifics. He said it will also continue to talk about ways to make ESPN's selection show "as good as it can possibly be."