The College Football Playoff was supposed to provide some certainty in a sport that, for too long, based its rewards on unreliable polls. And to the extent that there’s no debate over the team crowned as national champions, it’s worked.
But if there’s one thing fans have learned over the last few years, it’s that little in modern college football is certain. And after one round of expansion, from four teams to 12, there’s now more discussion and debate over the next round of growth.
Some, including many fans, are happy leaving the field at 12. The SEC, arguably the most powerful conference, wants to move to 16, while maximizing the number of at-large teams. That would, in their view, allow for more teams to reach the field based on strength of schedule instead of conference affiliation. Strength of schedule=more SEC teams, the thinking goes.
Then there’s the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and independent Notre Dame.
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This week, several reports confirmed that the majority of power conferences and the Irish want a 24-team playoff field. While that number has been met with justified skepticism from most fans, there’s apparently plenty of support within the sport.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark told On3 that 24 is their strong preference.
“We like 24, we want 24,” he said. “There are too many teams getting left out and 24 teams provides the type of access that is warranted. That being said, we need to do the work around the economics around a 24-team format and make sure we address any unintended consequences.”
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ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said much the same thing at his conference’s media days this week.
“Our desire with the coaches and the ADs is 24,” Phillips said. “When you’re leaving national championship-contending teams out of the playoff, you don’t have the right number. We lived through it, we suffered through it with Florida State, when the field was four.
“I know other schools have suffered for it. Notre Dame was a CFP worthy team last year and you saw what happened to the last team that got invited with Miami.”
That aligns with what the Big Ten and Commissioner Tony Petitti proposed in initial discussions after the end of the 2025-2026 season. So if the Big Ten, the Big 12, the ACC and Notre Dame, essentially four of the five most important voices in college football all agree on 24 teams, why hasn’t it already happened?
Reportedly, mostly because of ESPN.
“ESPN’s made it clear, they want it to stay at 12 or 14, but no more than 16,” Phillips added on Wednesday.
What? ESPN? A broadcaster has that much power over the playoff format for an entire sport?
There are some reasons why ESPN would want the playoff to stay where it is, or not expand too widely. Mainly that they own the rights up to a 14-team field, meaning they’d be forced to open up bidding on any additional playoff games. Ironically, for fans that dislike ESPN’s perceived level of control over college football, it’s that exact level of control that could stop a potentially unpopular 24-team format.
The SEC also has an important voice in the room, and Commissioner Greg Sankey already reaffirmed recently that he believes a 16-team expansion is better.
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“That focus hasn’t changed,” Sankey explained Monday at a media meeting in Alabama. “We’re open to the conversation, but there are a lot of ideas out there that have to be supported with analysis and information, not speculation.”
The incentives here are obvious. The ACC and Big 12 believe that a larger field will give them more opportunities in a new landscape dominated by the Big Ten and SEC. The Big Ten thinks 24 teams would bring in more revenue and the opportunity to host more home playoff games. Notre Dame has realized that, as teams optimize their schedules to make the playoff instead of play tougher non-conference opponents, it’ll be a struggle for them to compete with the strength of the Big Ten or SEC resumes and reach the top 12 each year.
Meanwhile, the SEC wants 16 teams with as few auto bids as possible in the hopes of putting half their conference in the field each year. Thereby reinforcing their view that they’re the premier conference in the sport. And half the conference isn’t an exaggeration, considering Sankey’s prior remarks.
Where this ends up is anyone’s guess, but it’s hard to see ESPN winning out in the long run relative to the power of those other conferences.