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Power 2 Conf Commissioners had a Jan 23, 2026 Deadline to EITHER EXPAND to 16 or 24 CFP teams for 2026 OR remain at 12 teams for 1 More Year

Franisdaman

Franisdaman

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May 5, 2026 UPDATE:

Momentum for a 24 team field grows....

Story from today:

The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) board has voted in favor of multiple major changes to the sport, the organization announced Tuesday. They include the idea of a potential 24-team College Football Playoff and the elimination of conference championship games.

The Full Story:

www.on3.com

AFCA Board votes in favor of 24-team CFP, elimination of conference championship games

.
www.on3.com www.on3.com



JAN 13, 2026 UPDATE:

The Power 2 conference commissioners are making the big decisions.

Check this out & watch:



ORIGINAL POST:

 
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AnonymousNolonger

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If they do go to 24 teams, the SEC and Big Ten need to do away with the proposal to give 4 auto qualifiers to the Big 12 and ACC too.

Duke, Pitt, and Navy were no where to be seen on the final CFP Top 25 rankings. But, they all would have made the playoffs over us.
 

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iahawkeyes17

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Hope they go to 16. Like the Dec. on campus games and might as well have 4 more to enjoy that weekend prior to xmas. Wish they’d do it for quarter finals too.
 
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Franisdaman

Franisdaman

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AnonymousNolonger said:
If they do go to 24 teams, the SEC and Big Ten need to do away with the proposal to give 4 auto qualifiers to the Big 12 and ACC too.

Duke, Pitt, and Navy were no where to be seen on the final CFP Top 25 rankings. But, they all would have made the playoffs over us.
Click to expand...


There sure are a lot of ideas being floated but no consensus on how many teams & how many automatic bids.

Last spring there was a ton of support for a 16-team playoff that would include the 5 highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large teams.

One possible 24 team model that has been considered:
* 4 guaranteed spots for the B1G
* 4 guaranteed spots for the SEC
* 4 guaranteed spots for the ACC
* 4 guaranteed spots for the Big 12

* 2 guaranteed spots for what will become the Group of 6 when the new-look Pac-12 begins

* 6 at-large bids for the selection committee to determine

www.espn.com

ESPN, CFP agree to move deadline for format changes to Jan. 23

The College Football Playoff and ESPN agreed to extend the deadline to Jan. 23 to determine if there will be any changes made to the format for 2026 and beyond.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
Franisdaman

Franisdaman

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iahawkeyes17 said:
Hope they go to 16. Like the Dec. on campus games and might as well have 4 more to enjoy that weekend prior to xmas. Wish they’d do it for quarter finals too.
Click to expand...

how should the 16 teams be determined?

thankfully the ACC Champ (5 loss Duke) didn't automatically qualify ;)
 
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iahawkeyes17

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Franisdaman said:
how should the 16 teams be determined?

thankfully the ACC Champ (5 loss Duke) didn't automatically qualify ;)
Click to expand...
If they keep conf title games be P4 champs plus highest non P4 with 11 other bids. Least most common thing I’ve read. Get rid of conf title games could lead to potential play in. But skeptical because that’s big 10 and sec lobbying for each conf to get a certain amount every year which though helps Iowa lead to argument from others doesn’t guarantee top 16 teams.
 
93hawkeye

93hawkeye

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I'm gonna say nobody outside of OSU, Indy, Georgia, TTech and Oregon have a chance this year. And that's typical of most years...only 4 or 5 teams have a chance. Adding more teams doesnt' improve the quality of the outcome. It's prestige and cash-grab. Oh well
 
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uihawk82

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WeBeHerkin said:
Def going to at least 16, but I bet decent support for 24.
Click to expand...
16 is enough if you want to expand as that is 12 percent of the D1 type schools; and 16 teams would mean no byes for any teams which is a fairer set up

NCAA BBall is 68 teams which 68/360 or 19% but after the play in games it is really 64 teams which makes it so every team plays the same number of games, no byes
 
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uihawk82

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93hawkeye said:
I'm gonna say nobody outside of OSU, Indy, Georgia, TTech and Oregon have a chance this year. And that's typical of most years...only 4 or 5 teams have a chance. Adding more teams doesnt' improve the quality of the outcome. It's prestige and cash-grab. Oh well
Click to expand...
Correct, it is a cash grab but it does give players a chance to shine on the big stage. We will find out if JMadison and iirc Tulane can pull off an upset.

I do think that an 8 seed could get hot and get some breaks and win it or get to the final
 
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HawksRule73

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Go to 16. Give 5 auto bids to B1G and SEC and 3 to Big12 and ACC. G5 can have their own playoff and ND can get bent if they don’t want to join a conference.

Make first 2 rounds home games for better seeded teams. Put the semi’s at Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl. Championship location can be rotated to highest bidding city/stadium.
 
oldxbbc

oldxbbc

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16 games is my vote. More than that either makes the season longer, start earlier etc.
 
OnlyTheObscure

OnlyTheObscure

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16 teams
4 big ten guaranteed
4 sec guaranteed
2 ACC guaranteed
2 big 12 guaranteed
1 group of 5 guaranteed

let a computer model (AI / Vegas algorithms) pick the next 3 most deserving teams.

first two rounds on campus games.

bid the remaining games out to the highest bidder.

I would start the regular season a week sooner.
 
DukeSlater

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uihawk82 said:
16 is enough if you want to expand as that is 12 percent of the D1 type schools; and 16 teams would mean no byes for any teams which is a fairer set up

NCAA BBall is 68 teams which 68/360 or 19% but after the play in games it is really 64 teams which makes it so every team plays the same number of games, no byes
Click to expand...
Actually, it should be a 24-team field, like the BIG is proposing. FCS has a 24-team field from 129 teams. FBS has 136 teams, so you can see that having 24 teams in the CFP would match what the FCS level does. Hell, there are 240 teams in D III, and FORTY make the playoffs.

The more teams the better, up to a point of course, and for FBS that point is clearly 24. Again, just look at what every other level of college football does. No other level has less (fewer) than 24 teams in its playoff.
 
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Franisdaman

Franisdaman

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DukeSlater said:
Actually, it should be a 24-team field, like the BIG is proposing. FCS has a 24-team field from 129 teams. FBS has 136 teams, so you can see that having 24 teams in the CFP would match what the FCS level does. Hell, there are 240 teams in D III, and FORTY make the playoffs.

The more teams the better, up to a point of course, and for FBS that point is clearly 24. Again, just look at what every other level of college football does. No other level has less (fewer) than 24 teams in its playoff.
Click to expand...

I wonder if, by the deadline, they decide to expand, and if so, what would the format be?

It seems that the B1G & SEC struggle getting on the same page. If they can't, 2026 will be 12 teams with the only change (IIRC) is that Notre Dame is guaranteed a spot if the finish in the final top 12.
 
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uihawk82

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DukeSlater said:
Actually, it should be a 24-team field, like the BIG is proposing. FCS has a 24-team field from 129 teams. FBS has 136 teams, so you can see that having 24 teams in the CFP would match what the FCS level does. Hell, there are 240 teams in D III, and FORTY make the playoffs.

The more teams the better, up to a point of course, and for FBS that point is clearly 24. Again, just look at what every other level of college football does. No other level has less (fewer) than 24 teams in its playoff.
Click to expand...
James Madison and Tulane proved we dont need 24 teams. that is way too many teams and it adds an extra round of games making it FIVE weeks long. A playoff draw with 16 teams have all teams playing the same number of games which is more fair, it is still 4 weeks, but you dont have the 24th ranked team which this year is james madison playing 9th ranked Alabama this year. The outcome of that game is pretty well known ahead of time.

This year with a 16 team draw #16 USC would be playing #1 USC which is a pretty good game and #2 Ohio St would be playing # 15 Utah, again major teams playing each other
 
Franisdaman

Franisdaman

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uihawk82 said:
James Madison and Tulane proved we dont need 24 teams. that is way too many teams and it adds an extra round of games making it FIVE weeks long. A playoff draw with 16 teams have all teams playing the same number of games which is more fair, it is still 4 weeks, but you dont have the 24th ranked team which this year is james madison playing 9th ranked Alabama this year. The outcome of that game is pretty well known ahead of time.

This year with a 16 team draw #16 USC would be playing #1 USC which is a pretty good game and #2 Ohio St would be playing # 15 Utah, again major teams playing each other
Click to expand...

I guess one advantage of 24 teams is that the teams playing really well at the end of the season (like Iowa) might get in & make some noise.
 
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HawkAlum2002

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The way top four teams with byes are doing the last two years, going to sixteen might actually help them more by actually playing the same week as teams 5-12. Reminds me of the knock of the B10 not having a title game for years, and teams having an extra week off before bowl games leading to poorer performances.
 
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AnonymousNolonger

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HawkAlum2002 said:
The way top four teams with byes are doing the last two years, going to sixteen might actually help them more by actually playing the same week as teams 5-12. Reminds me of the knock of the B10 not having a title game for years, and teams having an extra week off before bowl games leading to poorer performances.
Click to expand...
This^^^^

Go to 16, no byes
 
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EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

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AnonymousNolonger said:
This^^^^

Go to 16, no byes
Click to expand...
It's funny because it's a true paradox.

On the one hand, you are getting your parity with the 12 team playoff because "technically" Ohio State's $20 million roster won last year as the 8 seed, and this year we see 10 seed Miami knock off the defending champ to keep the top 4 seeds winless under this new format.

So on one hand, while it does suggest an edge to teams that weren't on an extended break/bye, it also means we're getting that unpredictability that fans want to see, with the usual top teams not dominating the sport (again, very small sample size).

But these struggles also opens the conversation for the higher-ups that want to argue for moving to 16 teams so that it would be "fairer" and that the top 4 seeds also get to host a playoff game, and not have that extra down time with the bye.

So on one hand, 16 teams means more teams in the playoff, but it also re-opens the door for the top seeds to take away what appears to be at least a slight advantage to the lower seeds who have a CFP game under their belt going into these Qtrs games.

I lean towards 16, but I want to recognize what it could mean for giving power back to the top seeds like an Ohio State.
 
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