Tag: Playoff

College Football Playoff expansion talks reignite: Friday meeting could create larger field as soon as 2024

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Frustrated with the leadership of FBS commissioners, the College Football Playoff Board of Managers will meet Friday with a goal of adopting an expanded playoff bracket as soon as the 2024 season, CBS Sports has learned. The bracket would likely expand to 12 teams under the leading proposal, which was the original concept put in front of stakeholders from the CFP working group in June 2021.

The vote must be unanimous by the 11 members of the board. If enacted, expansion would likely triple access to the playoff from the current four teams. The 11-member board includes university CEOs representing each of the 10 FBS conferences, plus Notre Dame president John Jenkins. Mississippi State president Mark Keenum told ESPN earlier this year that presidential intervention could come as soon as next summer.

Apparently, the timeline has been moved up.

The commissioners failed in their attempt to reach consensus on a long, drawn-out process that extended through 2020 and into February 2022. That’s when the CFP officially announced expansion talks were dead. The presumption then was that playoff expansion would have to wait until at least 2026 when the current deal expires with ESPN.

There is still widespread support for CFP media rights to go out to multiple bidders. If expansion is instituted in 2024, ESPN would still have the rights to all the games for the final two years of a 12-year deal. Sports Illustrated first reported the approaching CFP meeting.

If expansion is approved Friday, the playoff would move to at least 12 teams, according to one person participating in the process. However, that source left the door open for a 16-team playoff to be considered by the body.

A 12-team playoff has been valued at $1.2 billion annually, up from the current $600 million.

A subcommittee of commissioners

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2022 RBC Heritage leaderboard: Jordan Spieth edges Patrick Cantlay in playoff for another Easter Sunday win

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One week after missing the cut at the Masters for the first time in his career, Jordan Spieth revived his game and won for the second consecutive Easter Sunday. Last year, he took the Texas Open the week before the Masters. Just over 12 months later, he took the RBC Heritage in a sudden death playoff over Patrick Cantlay the week after teeing it up at Augusta National.

Spieth’s win Sunday was unconventional in many ways. He putted it terribly throughout the week, highlighted by a missed 18-inch putt on the final hole Saturday that seemed destined to bite him entering Round 4. However, after making two eagles on the front side of the course, he drained a lengthy birdie at the last to enter the clubhouse at 13 under with several players still on the course.

That was the second unconventional part of his win. Rarely do we see a player post as early as he did Sunday and go on to win. When he stood on the 18th tee box at 12 under before making birdie at the final hole of the tournament, Data Golf tabbed him with a 0.8% chance to claim the trophy. But as Harold Varner III, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka and others fell apart behind him, his odds of victory started to rise.

In the end, only Cantlay was able to match Spieth at 13 under after Cantlay dripped home a birdie on the 17th hole and took his Ryder Cup teammate to extra holes. Spieth’s putt on No. 18 from Saturday again flashed through the minds of everyone watching. That single stroke would have won him the tournament outright, and the golf gods seemed ready to kick a tournament Cantlay’s direction. 

However, this is the highest wire act in all of sports we’re

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2022 NBA playoff picture: Mavericks clinch top-four seed; Celtics vs. Bucks for No. 2 seed on Thursday

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The Brooklyn Nets rallied past the New York Knicks on Wednesday and continue to control their own destiny for the No. 7 seed. The Nets trail the Cleveland Cavaliers, the current No. 7 seed, by one game and they play each other on Friday. If Brooklyn wins, it would also secure the tiebreaker. 

Also in the East, the 2-seed Boston Celtics hit the 50-win mark and remain tied in the loss column with No. 3 Milwaukee and No. 4 Philadelphia. The Celtics play the Bucks on Thursday in a game that will go a long way in sussing out this three-team logjam. 

We’re going to be keeping close tabs on the playoff race with daily updates the rest of the way. Below is where things stand entering play on Thursday, April 7.

NOTE: Our SportsLine model, developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the entire season 10,000 times and is constantly updating to reflect changing circumstances to produce the most unbiased and precise projections imaginable

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Phoenix has clinched the No. 1 overall seed. 

  • Current first-round matchup: TBD (play-in results)  

The Grizzlies have clinched the No. 2 seed. 

The Warriors remain one game up on No. 4 Dallas in the loss column with three to play. Golden State has clinched a top-four seed. 

  • Projected seed: 3
  • Current first-round matchup: Nuggets
  • Tiebreaker vs. No. 4 Mavericks: Dallas has clinched with 3-1 head-to-head advantage

4. Dallas Mavericks 

The Mavericks clinched a top-four seed with their win over Detroit on Wednesday. Dallas is one game back of No. 3 Golden State in the loss column with two to play, and

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2022 NFL draft order and team needs: WFT moves into playoff picture, down draft board after third straight win

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There were some big changes to the draft order following another wild week in the NFL. As we enter Week 13, the draft is drawing nearer, and it’s time to take a look at how things stack up.

But first, each week, Ryan Wilson, Chris Trapasso and I produce mock drafts for CBSSports.com. In Wilson’s latest, he has the Texans, Falcons and Saints taking quarterbacks in the first round. Trapasso has Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett skyrocketing up the board. It was almost a consensus that Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux would be taken No. 1 overall by the Lions. For a more extensive draft discussion beyond the mock drafts, check out our weekly show every Tuesday on YouTube! 

Here is the updated 2022 NFL Draft order, via Tankathon.com:

1. Lions (0-10-1)

Team needs: WR, CB, OG, LB, DT
Notable free agents: WR Kalif Raymond, S Tracy Walker, WR Josh Reynolds, LB Alex Anzalone, DL Da’shawn Hand

2. Texans (2-9)

Team needs: QB, TE, OG, CB, S
Notable free agents: S Justin Reid, RB David Johnson, RB Phillip Lindsay, DT Maliek Collins, QB Tyrod Taylor

3. Jaguars (2-9)

Team needs: OT, C, LB, DT, TE
Notable free agents: OT Cam Robinson, WR D.J. Chark, OG A.J. Cann, DT Taven Bryan, CB Tre Herndon

4. Jets (via trade with 3-8 Seahawks)

Team needs: CB, EDGE, OT, LB, TE
Notable free agents: S Marcus Maye, WR Keelan Cole, WR Jamison Crowder, OT Morgan Moses, OL Conor McDermott

5. Jets (3-8)

Team needs: CB, EDGE, OT, LB, TE
Notable free agents: S Marcus Maye, WR Keelan Cole, WR Jamison Crowder, OT Morgan Moses, OL Conor McDermott

6. Giants (4-7)

Team needs: LB, EDGE, OG, C, TE
Notable free agents: TE

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College Football Playoff Rankings: Michigan takes No. 2 spot, Cincinnati holds at No. 4 in new top 25

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The fifth and penultimate edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night with Georgia remaining the No. 1 team in the nation. The next team in the rankings was a fresh one, however, with Michigan ascending to the No. 2 spot after soundly defeating Ohio State in The Game during Rivalry Week. It is the Wolverines’ first trip to the top four since late in the 2018 season; however, UM did not make the final CFP field that year.

Alabama and Cincinnati took the final two spots entering a weekend of conference championship games. The Bearcats, at 12-0 with two Power Five wins, remain the first Group of Five program to be placed among the top four in the CFP Rankings. Cincinnati has made history all season as the highest-ranked Group of Five program in the process but now have a legitimate opportunity to make the playoff. Whether that will come to fruition depends on the Bearcats beating Houston in the AAC Championship Game and hoping Georgia defeats Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

It’s also possible Cincinnati could be jumped by Oklahoma State in the top four. Outside of the current top four, the only other teams with a realistic shot at finishing among those spaces are the Cowboys (vs. Baylor in the Big 12 Championship Game) and Notre Dame, which does not have a league title game to play and just lost coach Brian Kelly to LSU on Monday. As Oklahoma State faces a top-10 opponent Saturday, there could be enough momentum to move it ahead of Cincinnati if both teams win.

In the history of the CFP, no team ranked outside the top seven at this late point in the season has moved into the four-team field after the conference title games. The No.

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