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AD has concerns over CFP expansion

By Andy Stine 4 min read
Kraft

The first edition of the College Football Playoff's 12-team format this season was a grind for any team that was lucky enough to be in the field.

Teams that play in the CFP national championship still have over six weeks of a season left after the regular season is already completed.

There is already talk of the CFP expanding to 14 or 16 teams as early as the 2026 season. But what does that look like in terms of the calendar for college football?

Count Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft among the curious.

"If you're going to go to 16 teams, I don't know if that's good, bad, or indifferent right now," Kraft said. "If you have 16, are you going to play into February? Football players do go to class. What are we doing?"

A field of 16 teams would presumably mean no bye weeks in the first round, as opposed to this season when the first four seeds all had a week off. Another factor is the travel in such a short amount of time that Kraft would like to see a change.

"I give our fans a ton of credit. You go out to the Big Ten championship, you come home for a playoff game, you have to go out to the Fiesta Bowl, and then to Miami," Kraft said. "You're booking flights one week out. There's a lot of nuances that may not be getting the attention."

Drayton introduced

New PSU running backs coach Stan Drayton met with the media for the first time on Monday in his new role.

Drayton was the head coach for the past three seasons at Temple, where he compiled a record of 9-25 before being fired with two games left this season.

Drayton had offers to become a senior analyst for many programs across the country, but quickly decided he wanted to be a coach again.

"As time went on, I just got the itch again," Drayton said. "We interviewed on Feb. 10 and it became very real that this was something I wanted to do. During the interview I got even more excited about the opportunity."

Success story

Kraft began Monday's press conference by commending THON students this past weekend.

It's the third time he has been at Penn State for the annual philanthropic event.

"It's quite overwhelming, to be honest. But $17.7 million dollars is like, 'What are we talking about?' That's amazing."

More dominance

There's nothing new going on in the world of the wrestling program. The Lions just won another regular season Big Ten championship. No starter is ranked lower than seventh in the InterMat rankings. There's a solid chance PSU will win its 12th national championship in 15 years next month.

As for what Kraft has seen in his three years, how does PSU wrestling and Cael Sanderson do it on an annual basis?

"I think we have to understand what we are watching," Kraft said. "It's not even a dynasty. It's better than anything anyone has ever done in college sports.

"He is a unicorn in our world. It's that entire organization and how they run. He recruits amazing young men that are fully committed to being the best."

Coach extended

Following the volleyball team's national championship, coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley was given an extension that will keep her in State College through the 2030 season.

Schumacher-Cawley battled breast cancer throughout the season, and never missed a game or practice. She recently announced she completed chemotherapy treatments.

"I don't think anyone has ever earned an extension more than her," Kraft said.

"Watching it from afar, I don't know if anyone understands how difficult it was for her. I've never seen anything like that. Go re-watch that Nebraska game. That team never waivered. Katie didn't flinch one bit with what was put in front of her and her family. There should be a Netflix movie about it."

Starting at /week.