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Pac-12 Leaders Promise Realignment Response as SEC Growth May Compromise CFP Expansion

HOLLYWOOD — The College Football Playoff seemed destined to expand and expand quickly.

For two years, a group of CFP executives worked to create a model that they presented to decision makers and have disseminated across college football. Their 12-team proposal, largely celebrated across America, appeared on the fast track to approval in a September meeting, potentially within two years of replacing the current four-team model.

And then, in a seismic and stunning shift, the Big 12’s two biggest brands, Texas and Oklahoma, started the process this week of joining the SEC. Pac-12 leaders here at the conference’s annual media day say the move compromises the expansion model and will almost assuredly delay its approval, even potentially resulting in wholesale changes to its structure.