The Biggest Questions Surrounding the Major Changes Coming to the CFB Playoff
For now, until further notice, it’s status quo.
As college football’s leaders agonize over potential tweaks to the College Football Playoff, nothing has been decided. Still, last year’s expanded format, while still very fresh, could see modifications in Year 2.
The reality, however, is that any change implemented would need universal approval, which seems unlikely given the sport’s fractured landscape. The other reality is far more intriguing.
Big changes are coming in 2026. That much seems clear.
With ESPN’s new playoff set to kick in after next season—and with the SEC and Big Ten in firm control of the playoff’s future from that point forward—the decisions made in the next 18 months will have a significant impact on the sport’s future.
Sure, we have uncertainty surrounding 2025. But that uncertainty pales in comparison to the conversations that are set to take place in the not-too-distant future that will impact 2026 and beyond.
Here are the lingering questions surrounding the CFB Playoff and how this postseason could shape the way the sport is consumed.
What Will Seeding Look Like?
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The topic de jour at the moment is seeding, and that conversation will continue onwards. Regarding 2025, the question surrounding a potential change starts and stops here.
Currently, the College Football Playoff awards byes to the four highest ranked conference champions. It’s how Boise State and Arizona State enjoyed a weekend off, despite being out seeded by many playoff teams.
The Big Ten and SEC would like to see that change in 2025. The rest of the sport would rather wait.
Regardless, changes to the seeding process are coming—as they should. It’s just a matter of when.
Filling the bracket this year felt impractical, clumsy and confusing. While conferences benefiting from this style can dig their heels in, the outcome was undeniable.
As such, expect a drastic overhaul to this process in the not-too-distant future, likely taking out conference associations and reverting back to a model tied to weekly rankings. The only question is whether or not we’ll have to wait a full year to see these changes realized.
How Many Teams Will Make the Postseason?
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In 2025, the playoff will stay at 12. This much we know.
Moving forward, we also know the bracket is likely to expand. After all, more games mean more money for the parties involved. The question is whether the playoff expands to 14 teams or 16 teams.
To understand how the playoff evolves, one must first take inventory over how this first year went. Ratings for playoff games weren’t exactly dazzling, and the college football calendar, which we’ll talk about in a bit, was already strained.
As such, expanding to 14 teams seems like a natural bit of growth. In this format, the likely outcome would be as such.
The SEC and Big Ten would be guaranteed four teams each. The Big 12 and the ACC would each be guaranteed two. A Group of Six team would get one additional spot, and an at-large team—say Notre Dame—would fill in the last vacancy.
This format has been discussed over the past year, and it seems like the most popular suggestion at the moment.
Would the SEC and Big Ten campaign for 16 teams instead? It largely depends on if it would impact them positively or not, which is a jarring realization when it comes to decision making.
As of now, 14 seems like the right number in 2026. Although given how quickly this sport is to adopt change, 16 should not be ruled out.
What About Conference Championship Weekend?
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Welcome to the great unknown.
Perhaps no ritual on the college football calendar is more likely to be overhauled than this.
As the sport tries to squeeze more games and teams into its postseason, something's got to give. And with major conferences positioned to grant more access to its members, conference championships as we know it—at least for some conferences—could soon be completely reimagined.
Imagine the SEC hosting four games rather than one to decide its playoff participants. In this format, the No. 1 seed would play the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed would play the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed would play the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed would play the No. 5 seed.
The bracket wouldn’t play out in further than one week, at least in theory. The winners of all of these games would then be guaranteed a spot in the CFB Playoff.
Crazy? Yes. Full of holes? You bet. Downright hard to process? Absolutely.
In this structure, the conference’s eighth best team would have a chance at making the playoff. That feels like a strange way to still keep the regular season vital within the conference, although the expanded playoff—and guaranteed spots—will likely force major conferences to get more creative.
The Big 10 and the SEC could choose to let the conference championship exist as is and then fill its guaranteed spots through rankings and other methods. This feels odd and anticlimactic in its own way, and a new format for these conferences, and the others impacted, will likely be needed.
This one is messy, and the answers could vary. But change is coming to accommodate the shifting landscape, and it's likely to be drastic.
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How Will the College Football Calendar be Impacted?
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For the first time ever, the college football universe and the NFL universe collided. The end result, at least in this one-year sample size, was sluggish ratings for meaningful playoff games between powerful brands.
In 2026, the national championship is scheduled for January 19th. In 2027, the first year of an adjusted playoff format, the title game is scheduled for January 27th.
These dates are bracing for change, although the impact could also reach the start of the college football season.
Week 0 has served as CFB’s dress rehearsal for some time, although the meaningful games are normally limited. It seems likely that Week 0 could become more robust, which would start the season earlier for most teams and limit the potential crossover with the NFL playoffs.
Or, at the very least, it would allow more time and flexibility for a more robust postseason to exist. Either way, the calendar is destined to change. Other key moments, including the various signing periods, transfer periods and other key dates, are likely to change as well.
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