Dan Patrick Says CFP Is Expected to Move to 5+11 Bracket Format Beginning in 2026

As debate about what the future of the College Football Playoff will look like continues, the sport is reportedly moving toward a system that will give 16 spots to the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large teams.

"This 5+11, what I'm told is that will be the format in 2026," Dan Patrick reported Thursday (1:15 mark). "That's expected to be the format for the playoffs in college football."

The upcoming 2025 season will be the last one with the current 12-team CFP field, which was just put in place ahead of last season.

There were notable changes from the first to the second year under that format.

Last season, the CFP was composed of the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large bids. The four highest-ranked conference champions were given the top four seeds and received a first-round bye.

This year's format will award the top four seeds and the first-round byes that come with them to the four highest-ranked teams regardless of whether they are conference champions. That would have prevented Boise State and Arizona State from earning the byes they enjoyed in last season's format.

With the upcoming season already decided, much of the focus around the sport has been on what it will look like with expansion starting with the 2026 campaign.

And that conversation has also been guided by different conferences with the SEC and Big Ten presumably holding the most power as the conferences with the most powerhouse programs that generate the most money every year.

There has been discussion about a system that would give four automatic spots to each of the Big Ten and the SEC, although ESPN's Adam Rittenberg noted last month there was more support for the 5+11 model at SEC spring meetings.

Ultimately, having a system with 11 at-large bids instead of eight of the spots being automatically given to the Big Ten and SEC will allow for more season-by-season variability. It will help account for anomaly seasons and keep more teams involved in the discussion longer into the year.

It also isn't a stretch to suggest it could open the door for the Big Ten and SEC to land more than four teams in the CFP field. There will likely be plenty of years where there are five or six deserving teams from those leagues compared to perhaps only one in a conference like the Big 12.

The latest indication is the 5+11 format will be put in place even though nothing has been finalized to this point.