College Football Playoff to remain at 12 teams after SEC and Big Ten fail to agree on expansion

The College Football Playoff resolved a few of its thorny issues Friday — including how to deal with Notre Dame — but left the toughest one unresolved, staying at 12 teams for next year and failing to expand the postseason to 16 or more.

The CFP’s management committee made the predictable announcement that the 12-team format would stay the same for next season, with executive director Rich Clark selling that as a way for the conferences to “better assess the need for potential change.”

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That conclusion became obvious over the weekend, when the commissioners came out of their last scheduled meeting before Friday’s deadline with no agreement.

The most notable changes they agreed to: Guaranteeing Notre Dame a spot in the field if it finishes in the top 12 in the rankings and holding automatic spots to the champions of the Power Four conferences — Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12.

The bracket in the just-completed playoff excluded the ACC champion, Duke, along with Notre Dame, which finished ranked 11th but was passed over by Miami. Two Group of Six champions — Tulane and James Madison — were ranked higher than the Blue Devils and got the spots under last year’s format.

But the key issue of expansion remains unresolved. The SEC and most of the other conferences favored moving to 16 teams, with an emphasis on at-large berths. The Big Ten wanted 24 or more with a large group of automatic qualifiers — a system that would further diminish the value of conference title games in exchange for play-in games for, say second, third and fourth place.

Per the CFP agreement, the SEC and Big Ten hold all the cards in this negotiation and remained stuck, meaning ESPN’s six-year, $7.8 billion deal to carry the playoff will start next season with 12 teams, the same as it’s been the last two years.

“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,” Clark said.

Also unchanged was the format. The opening round of games, featuring the fifth through 12th seeds, will be played on campus, with the final three rounds going to traditional bowl sites. Next season’s final is set for Las Vegas on Jan. 25, 2027.

This season, Oregon traveled more than 11,500 miles to play in the Orange Bowl (quarterfinals) and Peach Bowl (semifinals).

Before the Orange Bowl, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said “we have to examine” bringing quarterfinals to campus — where the crowds and the games have had a more electric (and jam-packed) atmosphere than the quarterfinal games — but no decision was reached.

Biggest winners and losers

The biggest winner coming out of the small changes is Notre Dame. When the Irish were leapfrogged by Miami in the last rankings, they found themselves on the outside — pushed out by two lower-ranked conference champions and the Hurricanes. Athletic director Pete Bevacqua complained the ACC’s lobbying for Miami amounted to an unfair tipping of the playing field.

The ACC — or any struggling Power Four conference — got a victory of sorts with the guarantee that their champion gets in regardless of ranking.

That amounts to a loss for the G6 teams, though James Madison and Tulane didn’t do that group any favors — losing their two playoff games by a combined 92-44.

The move also gives conferences a chance to evaluate how moving to nine league games will impact their strength of schedules and other factors related to selection. The SEC, Big 12 and most ACC teams are transitioning to nine-game schedules for 2026, while the Big Ten has been there for a decade.