CFP Director: Expanding CFB Playoffs to 14 Teams Will Be Considered for 2026 Season

The era of the 12-team College Football Playoff may be a short one.

CFP executive director Rich Clark told reporters Tuesday that conference commissioners are exploring the possibility of expanding the field to 14 starting in 2026, adding "in the end, they're going to look at whether 14 is a better number. That doesn't mean that is a foregone conclusion."

Clark also said that "staying at 12 is one of the options," and the situation will be further evaluated "after they see the results of this playoff."

While that would be a quick turnaround to an expanded field after just two years of the current system that hasn't even played out yet, it is a less drastic expansion than four to 12.

The first 10 years of the CFP featured just four teams with no auto bids. Instead, a selection committee was tasked with choosing what it saw as the four best and most deserving teams and forming a small bracket.

The jump to 12 was a significant one, as now there are auto bids for the five-highest-ranked conference champions and first-round byes for the four-highest-ranked ones. What's more, the better-seeded teams get to host the first-round games.

Naturally, there has been plenty of debate and conversation about the system in its first year.

Perhaps that will result in changes to the format in the near future with the auto bids still in place but the first-round byes not automatically going to only conference champions. Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee and Indiana were all ranked ahead of Boise State and Arizona State, but the latter two received the byes because of their status as conference champions.

Or perhaps it will result in bigger changes such as an expansion to the field itself.

Having 12 teams in the field has generated additional attention this week after a powerhouse program like Alabama was left out when the field was selected Sunday, but the idea of a 14-team CFP is not a new one.

In fact, the Big Ten and SEC pushed for such a system that would also feature four auto-bids into the field for each conference. Yet that was met with pushback and wasn't implemented.

"While there continues to be support for a 14-team field starting in 2026, discussions about how teams should qualify for the CFP remain a sticking point," ESPN's Heather Dinich reported in March. "Commissioners are still debating whether conferences should have automatic qualifiers and, if so, how many for each. ESPN recently reported that the Big Ten and SEC had asked that their respective conference champions receive the only two byes in a 14-team field—an unpopular proposal that was met with significant pushback."

There will be plenty of details to sort out if the field is expanded to 14 teams, but it seems like the idea could pick up steam again in the near future.