College Football Playoff will be expanded to 12 teams

The College Football Playoff field will triple in size by the end of the decade.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday that the College Football Playoff Board of Managers has agreed to expand the postseason tournament from four to 12 teams. The expansion is expected to go into effect in 2026 after the current contract runs out. News broke earlier in the week that the board would be meeting on Friday to discuss expansion and that there was momentum on it being approved.

“Details will be worked out by the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick beginning next week, when they meet in Dallas,” according to Nicole Auerbach at The Athletic.

Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger followed up by reporting that field in this format would include the six highest ranked conference champions and six at large teams. This proposal is nearly identical to the format originally agreed upon by the CFP working group in June of 2021 before the CFP management committee rejected it later in the year.

Since its debut in 2014, there has been talks of expanding the playoff for various reasons. Critics have decried the exclusion of certain conferences from the final four as well as the monotony of seeing the same powers like Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State occupying the same spots every year.