College Football Playoff insiders and conference commissioners involved in the discussions to expand the Playoff lament a lot of the same things.

Heather Dinich of ESPN detailed how the sport arrived at this stalemate as it includes 9 in-person meetings over 7 months created a proposal, but the leaders have been unable to implement it.

The entire process of expanding the playoff has been called into question, and feelings of frustration and anger have boiled over as commissioners refuse to budge on various points. They all agree the playoff should be expanded — they just can’t unanimously agree what it should look like or when it should begin.

The path forward is largely unclear, but it appears multiple commissioners must back away from their strong demands. As Dinich noted, “just as the ACC has changed its stance on pushing for an eight-team format, there is a faint optimism that (Big Ten Commissioner Kevin) Warren will eventually relent on automatic qualifiers, putting the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the ACC as the lone remaining obstacle — a label that may or may not be enough to sway the league. Of course, there’s also the possibility that Warren’s willingness to lead the charge on automatic qualifiers might lure more to support it.”

It was thought that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips may have dealt a “knockout blow” to a new format when he said Friday that “now is not the right time to expand the College Football Playoff.” The reality is no single person or conference has derailed expansion, though the spotlight is now on the Big Ten and ACC commissioners, Dinich reported.

Dinich also reported that there is a faint optimism that Warren will eventually relent on automatic qualifiers, putting the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the ACC as the lone remaining obstacle — a label that may or may not be enough to sway the league. Of course, there’s also the possibility that Warren’s willingness to lead the charge on automatic qualifiers might lure more to support it.

The bottom line is they all agree the playoff should be expanded, they just can’t unanimously agree what it should look like or when it should begin.

“When everybody in the room favors expansion,” Notre Dame Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick said, “we have to be able to find a way — at least by the next term — to have an expansion model we can get agreement around.”