One of the big gripes about the College Football Playoff since its inception is how the same teams make it every year, leading to stale matchups on the sport’s biggest stage. It has led to calls since basically the beginning for the playoff to feature more than four teams, but for a myriad of reasons, expansion has always fallen flat on its face.
That changed on Friday afternoon. According to multiple media reports, the CFP Board of Managers met and unanimously voted to approve a 12-team playoff. While it could happen earlier depending on how things shake out with the TV contracts that have long been cited as the main hold-up to expansion, the most likely answer appears to be expansion coming in 2026, even if there is a chance that it’s implemented as soon as 2024.
Sources: The CFP Board of Managers has decided on a 12-team College Football Playoff during today’s meeting.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 2, 2022
The 12-team model is expected to start in 2026, after the current contract, according to a source. There’s still a chance that it could go earlier, but those details are complicated and would take some time to work out. https://t.co/sRWlmiDvbe
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 2, 2022
NEWS: CFP presidents have unanimously approved to expand the College Football Playoff to 12 teams, sources tell @SINow. ESPN first.
The date of implementation (2024 or 25 or 26) is being left for commissioners to determine, as well as details of the format.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 2, 2022
The presidents voted in favor of the six highest-ranked conference champions, and the next six highest-ranked teams. The commissioners have been highly encouraged to implement it as soon as 2024.
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) September 2, 2022
The thing that could change this is when conference commissioners meet next week.
Commissioners meet Thursday, which means we could know what year the 12-team #CFBPlayoff is implemented within a week. https://t.co/7YSla9LRAn
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) September 2, 2022
As for what an expanded playoff will look like, Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic brings word that the six highest-ranked conference champions will receive a spot, as well as six at-large squads.
The 12-team CFP format will be the one that was initially proposed by the four-person working group. Six highest-ranked conference champions, six at-larges.
Source tells @TheAthletic that there are a lot of details left to work out to see if it can be implemented before 2026.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) September 2, 2022
In the eight years that the College Football Playoff has been the way to determine which team is the sport’s national champion, six schools — Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Notre Dame — have made it more than once.