American Conference deserves fair shot at College Football Playoff, commissioner says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Commissioner Tim Pernetti wants to be sure the newly rebranded American Conference isn’t left out of the College Football Playoff conversation.

His solution for that – a playoff that includes a large number of at-large teams in a format preferred by the Southeastern Conference but not the Big Ten.

Pernetti said Friday he believes his conference has teams capable of competing in the 12-team playoff – which could get expanded to 16 – and winning the national championship.

“We believe in a format without anything being guaranteed to any conference,” Pernetti said at the conference’s media days at the Charlotte Convention Center. “The five highest-ranked conference champions (regardless of conference) should continue to receive an automatic bid plus a significant number of at-large opportunities, giving anyone the opportunity to earn a spot. Winning on the field, a true merit-based system.”

The current format calls for the top five conference champions to receive automatic bids, which presumably means the Power Four conferences all get one and then another goes to a Group of Five league such as the American. Last season, that automatic bid went to Boise State of the Mountain West.

The American had Army and Tulane hanging on the fringes of the playoff conversation last season but they needed lots of things to happen that didn’t.

The SEC and Big Ten will decide what format comes after this season. If they can’t agree, they have both said there’s a chance they could just leave things as they are with 12 teams.

The Big Ten has won the last two national championships.

If the playoff expands to 16 teams, it favors giving four automatic bids to the SEC and Big Ten and awarding the ACC and Big 12 two bids apiece with one more to the next highest-ranked conference champ. The SEC favors five conference champions and 11 at-large bids, which would presumably favor the top conferences most seasons.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark doubled down on his preference to stay with only five automatic qualifiers if the CFP expands from 12 to 16 teams as many expect after this season, instead of each of the four power conferences being guaranteed multiple bids.

Pernetti was adamant his conference have an opportunity to earn it on the field.

He said giving away predetermined playoff spots to larger conferences would not send the right message to players around the country.

“Line up and play the game. Let’s see where the chips fall at the end of the year,” Pernetti said. “Let’s not send a terrible message to student athletes that for some, their opportunity is not as important as others. They have the same goal. These guys sitting in this room, they want to play for the national championship just like every student-athlete in America.”

Pernetti cautioned that the Bowl Championship Series fell apart under the weight of “confusion, favoritism and protecting certain programs over others.”

“Have we learned nothing from history?” Pernetti said.