College football coaches confirmed their support for future playoff expansion following a recent vote by the American Football Coaches Association. The move could help usher in significant postseason changes if conference commissioners and athletic directors can agree on a format.
Playoff expansion conversations intensified recently amongst decision-makers within the Power Four, with the SEC and Big Ten still reportedly sparring over their 16-team and 24-team preferences. To alter the format for the 2027 season, the decision must be approved by Dec. 1.
The CFP will remain a 12-team field in 2026.
“The room is open,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said earlier this month. “Pretty much every commissioner in there has indicated that. We know that some of them probably lean more towards one format than another, but they want the truth. They want the facts so that they make a good decision.”
So, as we inch closer toward the CFP expanding, how would a theoretical 24-team playoff bracket have looked last season? Let’s take a peek based on the final CFP Rankings for the 2025 season.
Proposed 24-team playoff format
If the playoff expands to 24, it would create another round of postseason action and 12 more games overall, nixing conference championship weekend and altering the end-of-season calendar. The preferred 24-team proposal reportedly includes one auto-bid, the Group of Six champion, along with 23 at-large selections as determined by the selection committee. There’s also a model centered around 16 automatic qualifiers from power conferences, six from the Group of Six and six at-large spots, but that offering is reportedly not the primary preference from coaches and administrators.
Since Tulane was the highest-rated Group of Six champion last season at No. 20 overall in the final CFP rankings, the Green Wave would’ve secured a guaranteed berth under the revised, preferred 24-team structure. Notre Dame, which withdrew from bowl consideration following December’s exclusion from the bracket as the first team out, gets a home game as the No. 11 seed in the 24-team format.
The Fighting Irish, by the way, currently have a 2026 CFP assurance if they’re ranked inside the top 12 thanks to a memorandum of understanding the university signed last spring. Other teams that would’ve earned first-round home games based on poll placement last season would’ve included Alabama, Miami, BYU, Texas, Vanderbilt, Utah and USC.
The teams that would be open during the first weekend of playoff action are the top-8 seeds, who would then have second-round opportunities at home in mid-December.
Opening round byes
First-round games
Potential financial impact leads discussion
More games equal more money is essentially the sales pitch here as college football’s postseason looks to strengthen its momentum-building volcano.
Start at the top with television inventory; partners would gain another full round of high-stakes programming with those windows in December and January, seen as premium real estate. More elimination games mean more ad revenue, more subscription leverage, and ultimately, a richer rights deal when the contract cycles again. That’s the driving force behind expansion — not access, not fairness, but inventory.
For the power brokers, namely the SEC and Big Ten, a 24-team field widens the revenue funnel. More bids likely mean more payouts, and with distribution models already tilted toward those two heavyweights, the rich aren’t just getting richer — they’re getting paid more often. Multiple bids per league become the expectation, not the exception.
The trade-off that doesn’t show up neatly on a balance sheet comes in the form of major calendar changes — including doing away with conference championship weekend — and potentially creating friction with the academic calendar unless the season truly ends during the second week of January as proposed.
Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Ryan Day at Ohio State are among the coaches who openly prefer the postseason ending before roster preparations begin for the following season. The calendar is an issue that needs to be fixed ahead of further playoff expansion if a 24-team bracket begins as early as 2027.
Where the SEC stands
Speaking candidly about the college football’s next phase, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has leaned into a message that feels equal parts caution and control, especially after his league’s recent move to a nine-game conference schedule.
Yes, there’s momentum behind growing the field beyond its current format. Yes, there’s more money to be made. But from the SEC’s vantage point, expansion isn’t just about adding teams — it’s about protecting value. Sankey’s underlying point is clear: not all expansion models are created equal.
The SEC has shown no interest in a system that dilutes its influence or redistributes access in a way that ignores on-field results. In other words, automatic qualifiers and rigid structures? That’s where skepticism creeps in. Sankey has pushed for a model rooted in flexibility — one that rewards the best teams, regardless of conference affiliation, while still acknowledging the SEC’s weekly gauntlet.
It’s a stance that has doubled as both a competitive argument and a negotiating position.
