This first appeared in Kevin Scarbinsky’s weekly newsletter. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every Thursday, $5/month or $50/year.

It’s coming. You can’t stop it. You can only hope to delay it. Major college football’s transformation into a National College Football League continues, and the next step on that road could come Aug. 30.

That day, the College Football Playoff decision-makers will meet to discuss a variety of issues, and the agenda has taken on much greater significance since the mass exodus from the Pac-12. The most far-reaching issue at hand: How to distribute the spots in the 12-team playoff, which debuts with the 2024 season.

That question was originally settled with six automatic bids for the six highest-ranked conference champions plus six at-large berths based on the final playoff poll. Then the Pac-12 lost eight members and its status as a Power 5 conference. Now it appears everything is up for discussion again, from the format to revenue distribution to decision-making powers.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said last week on the Paul Finebaum Show that the format should be re-examined. The 6 + 6 plan guaranteed access to the playoff to at least one Group of Five conference champion. Will Sankey and new Big Ten Commissioner Tony Pettiti push for a format designed to increase the number of at-large selections? Could they go so far as to demand that the playoff be made up of the 12 highest-ranked teams in the playoff poll with no automatic bids for conference champs?

That would make it extremely difficult for a Group of Five team like UAB, Troy or South Alabama to make the playoff even after putting together a spectacular regular season. AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco has said he will fight against any plan that does not include a sufficient number of conference champions.