Earlier today, a presentation was provided to the College Football Playoff board of managers on the 12-team playoff proposal.
Mississippi State president and chairman of the College Football Playoff board of managers Mark Keenum provided a statement on that meeting today with a statement that reads:
"The College Football Playoff board of managers today heard a presentation from a working group appointed to look into the possibility of expanding the College Football Playoff. It was an excellent presentation and on behalf of the board, I am grateful to the four members who spent two years discussing this important issue and arriving at its recommendation for a 12-team playoff."
"The four team playoff has been a great success and I'm confident that it will remain a success. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to explore options to make it even better by increasing the number of schools that participate in it."
The statement goes on to share that the board of managers has authorized the management committee to begin a "summer review" that will engage "other important voices" such as coaches, athletic directors, student-athletes, and school presidents on the matter.
One of the issues at hand with instituting a 12-team playoff in the short term seems to be the contracts currently in place with bowls, Keenum shared.
"We have relationships with the bowls and a broadcast partner with whom we will want to consult to explore the feasibility of the 12-team proposal."
"This too will happen during this summer study period. Having given the management committee the charge to look into expansion, it is our duty to take their good work and ascertain whether it is feasible based on the feedback we receive."
Then the warning came to close out the statement.
"I caution observers of our process not to rush to conclusions about what this board may decide. The working group has presented us a thorough and thoughtful proposal. There is more work to do, more listening to do and more information needed before we can make a decision."
Nicole Auerbach tweeted just after the statement was released that in her conversations with presidents and commissioners, they're looking into the current contracts that are in place to see if a 12-team playoff is even possible to implement before the 2026 season.
Whether it is feasible or not is part of what will be explored this summer.
The next meeting with the board will take place in September, and that's likely the next time we'll hear more on this.
See the full statement below.