Mark Emmert would like to see an eight-team Playoff

NEW YORK — NCAA President Mark Emmert joins the many other voices who would like to see the College Football Playoff expand to eight teams.

“It’s not my decision, obviously,” Emmert said Wednesday at the Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum. “But I think conference championships ought to really matter. I’m kind of old-school, I guess, and it would be really fun to have a model where those five champions all got a crack at moving forward.”

The NCAA doesn’t have jurisdiction over the Playoff, which is controlled by the 10 FBS conferences.

This season, Penn State and Big 12 champion Oklahoma did not make the Playoff field and Ohio State, which did not win the Big Ten, did.

“The conference championship ought to keep you in that hunt.,” he said. “When kids win that championship, the banner ought to be really, really important.”

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, when told of Emmert's comments, said, "We live in America. Everybody's got an opinion. He doesn't have a vote, though."

Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff, had this to say: "We know that the four-team playoff is enjoying immense success, and the regular season is unique.  We respect President Emmert, but on this matter, we certainly see things differently."