The CFP is at the "halfway point" of its 12-year contract with ESPN, and any "significant changes to the system -- either during the contract or as part of a new one -- would take a few years to implement," according to Heather Dinich of ESPN.com. New Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren was scheduled to have his "first meeting as a member of the CFP Management Committee" this morning. Warren is not the "only rookie in the room" discussing the CFP, but his "voice will be influential in decisions ultimately driven by the Power 5 leaders." MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said that the "'easy answer' for the Group of 5 conferences would be an eight-team playoff in which one of their conference champions was guaranteed a spot, but it's not an easy decision." He added, "We have to think about the whole system. It's an interesting system we've set up anyway. While it's not written that way, clearly we have five autonomous conferences and five non-autonomous conferences, and they get treated a little differently." Warren said, "We have to ask ourselves what's in the best interest of the student-athletes for them to be able to get a world-class education and participate and to remain healthy -- healthy mentally, and physically, emotionally and spiritually." Steinbrecher said it is "too early to tell" how new faces like Warren will "influence decisions moving forward" (ESPN.com, 1/11).
MORE TO IT THAN THAT: Clemson AD Dan Radakovich said, "It's real easy to sit down at a desk and map out an eight-team playoff. But it can't be the current way we do things. Do you lose a game and go back to an 11-game schedule? Do you monetize the spring game? I don't think this is a one, sit down, 'OK, this is how we're going to change this.' There's a lot of little pieces that can lead up to a really healthy alternative if that's where they want to go" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 1/13).
