No expansion for the College Football Playoff after Big Ten and SEC remain at odds over format for the 2026 season
The College Football Playoff’s 12-team format will remain in place for at least the 2026 season after Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey failed to agree on an expansion plan by the Friday deadline.
As with so much about college football, where self-interest reigns and sanity is scarce, the outcome isn’t ideal but could have been much, much worse.
Sankey preferred a 16-team playoff model that was supported by nine other FBS conferences and Notre Dame. But under the CFP’s governance structure, the Big Ten must co-sign any format changes. And Petitti, presumably with the backing of his schools, favored a ghastly 24-team model that would have fundamentally altered the regular season.
“After ongoing discussion about the 12-team playoff format, the decision was made to continue with the current structure,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said in a statement released Friday. “This will give the Management Committee additional time to review the 12-team format, so they can better assess the need for potential change.”
The impasse offers yet another example of the complete and utter lack of leadership at the center of the industry.
In theory, Sankey and Petitti should act in the best interest of the playoff specifically and sport generally. Instead, they prioritize outcomes that best serve the 34 schools in the Big Ten and SEC that sign their paychecks.
When the two conferences are aligned on policy matters, progress ensues.
But in the case of the CFP format, which stood at four teams for 10 years and expanded to 12 just two seasons ago, the SEC and Big Ten view the situation differently.
Sankey favored moving to a 16-team model in which five bids would be reserved for conference champions and 11 for at-large teams. The ACC, Big 12, Notre Dame, and Group of Six conferences, which include the rebuilt Pac-12, supported the plan.
But Petitti appears determined to overhaul the sport. He proposed a 24-team model in which the majority of bids would be allocated to the major conferences regardless of performance: Four each for the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, plus at least one for the Group of Six.
Thankfully, the plan was a non-starter across the CFP management committee, prompting Petitti to resort to Plan B: He would approve expansion to 16 teams only if Sankey agreed in advance to adopt the 24-team concept in a few years. Sankey was hesitant to commit, according to sources. (And understandably so.)
When Sankey and Petitti couldn’t agree prior to the Dec. 1 deadline to inform ESPN of format changes for next season, they secured an extension from ESPN to Jan. 23. But over the course of seven weeks, “they did not engage” at the level necessary to resolve the issue, according to a source.
So the 12-team format will remain in place for at least another year. Which is fine. The selection process is broken; the format is not.
But there is one important change coming in 2026: Notre Dame will receive an automatic bid if ranked inside the top 12 by the selection committee, a sweetheart deal for the Irish that was secured in the spring of 2024 and reported by Yahoo.
Put another way: If the Irish are in the top 12 — and their schedule is pillowy soft next season, folks — there will be just six at-large bids available for the non-champions of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC.
That’s particularly ominous math for the Big 12, which has neither won a game or produced an at-large team during two seasons of the 12-team format.
(Had the 16-team model been in place in 2025, BYU would have joined Texas Tech, the Big 12 champion, in the field.)
But it’s also suboptimal for the Big Ten, where two or three worthy teams could be on the outside looking in.
Given the increased strength of the conference’s middle tier, it’s easy to envision the scenario that played out in 2025 repeating next season: Ohio State, Indiana, and Oregon all win at least 10 games and collect CFP bids while a handful of 9-3 teams are excluded.
In that regard, Petitti’s entrenched negotiating position — refusing to approve 16 without Sankey offering a commitment to 24 down the road — could end up undermining the Big Ten.
Then again, this is college football. Billable hours and short-sighted strategic decisions are perennial No. 1 seeds.
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