In a clear break from his conference’s official stance, Ohio State President Ted Carter is publicly objecting to Tony Petitti and Big Ten ADs’ push for a massive College Football Playoff expansion. During a February 16 interview with WBNS 10 TV, Carter stated he’d prefer to ‘go back to the old format’ of four teams.’

“I’m a little bit like a lot of fans. We don’t need more teams. Let’s go back to the old format when there were only four teams in it. If you’re Ohio State and you’re one of the four, your odds are a heck of a lot better. So, with the 12, if we can get the scheduling down right, that’s gonna make us competitive,” Ted Carter said.

“Adding another game because you want to have more teams in it is not the right answer. So something’s got to give. More than likely, conference championships come off the table. And, of course, I’m gonna be a little bit biased here. I wanna protect the Army-Navy game. That is still America’s game.”

The Buckeyes’ president’s comments hint that things aren’t completely aligned with the Big Ten’s massive playoff format. B1G commissioner Tony Petitti and the conference officials have been pitching the 24-team model, featuring the nation’s top 23 teams and one G6 team without any automatic qualifiers.

This format eliminates the conference championship game and any other in-conference rematches in the playoffs.

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The first eight teams in the seeding would get an automatic bye for the first round. Whereas the next eight would have a chance to host another game in their home venue for the CFP first round.

However, the SEC came out with a 16-game format for discussion, but both the Big Ten and the SEC couldn’t come to an agreement, leaving the 12-team format for the 2026 season. While the Big Ten looks comfortable, the SEC faces trouble continuing with the current format, turning the ADs angry.

Multiple SEC ADs are angry at the Big Ten

The SEC announced a nine-game conference schedule, which would have perfectly aligned with the 16-team CFP format. However, the Big Ten’s 24-team playoff format came out of the box, causing disagreement, leading to the return of the 12-team playoff. ‘This left the SEC with a tougher schedule, making their path tough for the national title run.

“Nine games for the SEC in concert with the CFP going to 16,” Finebaum said in the February 13 interview with 97.1 The Fan. “But that didn’t happen, and a lot of people down here are upset about [Greg] Sankey saying, ‘We’re not expanding,’ until he and [Tony] Petitti got on the same page. The SEC is somewhat stuck in the middle.”

This angered a lot of SEC ADs, who felt the Big Ten had misled them and made their path tougher.

“I blame Tony Petitti for that. Because of his trying to play games with Sankey over these 16, I don’t know why they couldn’t have just agreed to a shorter-term deal. And then we’ll bake something into the cake, saying, ‘We will come back in two years and address the second part of it.’ But the one thing that is happening down here is there is not just one or two ADs in the SEC who are unhappy about this nine-game schedule.”

With conference commissioners, school presidents, and athletic directors all pulling in different directions, the future of the College Football Playoff remains as contentious as ever, leaving the ultimate structure of the sport’s championship up in the air.