The ruling entities of the college football playoff system could not come to an agreement on expansion for the 2026 season. So there will be no expansion. The committee had given itself an extra month, from the original deadline in December 2025 to Friday. That came with the blessing of television partner ESPN. But the TV network said they would not give another extension. The reason was that plans needed to be put in place for next season’s postseason. And so on Friday, the talk of expansion died a quiet death, at least for now.
College Football Playoff Expansion Dies on the Vine
The playoff format will remain at 12 teams for the third consecutive year. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has wanted the format to grow to 16 teams. Big 10 commissioner Tony Petitti was very open about wanting to go all the way to 24 teams. There was talk of a potential compromise where Petitti would agree to 16 teams for two years if it went to 24 teams after that. Those talks stalled out pretty quickly, as well as any agreement on a number of automatic qualifiers from the two power conferences if it expanded to 24.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark get to have their opinions heard. But neither has any real say in the final outcome. The same is the case with each of the commissioners from the Group of Five conferences.
The Committee
In a statement released by the committee after the decision was made, Executive Director Rich Clark said, “This will give the Management Committee additional time to review the 12-team format, so they can better assess the need for potential change. While they all agree the current format has brought more excitement to college football and has given more schools a real shot in the postseason, another year of evaluation will be helpful.”
The Logistics
While the number of teams in the playoff will stay the same, who gets in will be tweaked. In 2025, it was the five highest-ranked conference champions. The ACC’s champion, Duke, was 8-5 and unranked. That left room for two G5 conference champions, Tulane and James Madison.
In 2026, there will be one automatic bid for the conference champion from each of the Power 4 conferences. Then there will be one for the highest-rated Group of 5 conference champion. That gift for the ACC assures that all P4 conferences will have at least one team in. The remaining seven schools in the field will be determined by the final College Football Playoff committee rankings. Notre Dame will get an automatic bid if it is in the top 12.
The location settings for the playoff will remain the same as in 2025. First round games will be played at on-campus stadiums. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be hosted by existing bowl games (Rose, Peach, Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton). The national championship game will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on January 25, 2027.
The Calendar Problem Remains
It will be the latest date ever for the college football national championship and will be butting up against postseason NFL-driven activities for some players, like the East-West Shrine game and the Senior Bowl. It will also mean that for players in the championship, getting a five-day grace period after their last game to enter the transfer portal will mean the window stays open for some all the way until the end of January, well into the second semester, at most schools.
At the coaches’ press conference the day before the ACC championship game, Duke head coach Manny Diaz spoke of a plan to change many of the calendar irregularities brought about by the regular season and postseason schedules.
Diaz said the regular season should start for every school on what is now commonly referred to as Week 0. That would move the start up into the third week of August. He suggested that the bye weeks per school be reduced from two to one. Diaz also said the conference championship games could be eliminated since they potentially cost conferences another team in the playoff. He said by doing all of that, you gain two to three weeks on the calendar, allowing the playoff to expand to 24 schools (he suggested dropping to 20 bowl games from the current 36). The postseason, he said, will be much more succinct, and you can have the championship game no later than the second weekend of January.
Diaz’ plan has yet to make it to a critical mass vote at any level. For now, the season pushes back farther with large gaps between the semi-finals and the championship game.
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