Despite playoff performance debates, the 12-team format stands for 2026. Commissioners Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti's push for expansion stalled, for now.
After much deliberation, it was announced that the format of the 2026 College Football Playoffs would remain at 12 teams for this upcoming season. There was a lot of chatter about continuing the expansion to 16-teams due to results in the quarterfinals, but an agreement wasn't reached so the format will remain at 12 teams. The two main drivers of this conversation were SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.
"SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has publicly supported a 16-team model, but Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti would only agree to it if Sankey committed to a 24-team field after three years, sources told ESPN. Multiple sources have said that's not something Sankey was ready to do at this time. Although there has been significant support for a 16-team field, staying at 12 was an expected result because of the stalemate that has existed for months between the Big Ten and SEC." - Heather Dinich, ESPN
In the last two years, there has been only one team to have won their matchup in the quarterfinals that received a first round bye, the Indiana Hoosiers. The other seven teams from the 2024 playoff and the 2025 playoffs all lost in their matchups after receiving a first round bye. This was a main driver of conversation for expanding the playoffs to a 16-team format.
Initially, the contract signed in March of 2024 was built for a 12-team or 14-team playoff format, but the push for 16 grew increasingly this past season with teams like Notre Dame, BYU and Texas being left out, Miami and Alabama left out in 2024 and the lack of success shown by the first four seeds in the past two seasons.
"While the number of teams in the field will remain the same this fall, there will be some adjustments to how some are included. This season, the Power 4 conference champions will be guaranteed spots in the 12-team field, along with the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of 6, which now includes the new-look Pac-12. Notre Dame will also be a lock for the playoff if it finishes in the selection committee's top 12." - Heather Dinich, ESPN
For Notre Dame fans, the MOU will still be applicable to the 12-team format, but that won't stop the committee from doing what they did this season if the Irish don't handle business in their 12 regular season games.
There will likely be continued evaluation for the push to a 12-team format. Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua sees eye to eye with Sankey on the 16-team format, but we'll have to wait at least another season before that comes to fruition. Still, remaining at 12-teams still seems to be the correct answer, for now. If teams handle their business in the regular season, Notre Dame included in that calculation, then the playoffs should feature the 10-12 best teams in the country.
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!