ACC Commissioner Calls for CFP Playoff Bracket Expansion After Notre Dame Snub

The ACC barely made the College Football Playoff this season with Miami landing the final at-large spot, and the conference's commissioner would like more opportunities in the future.

"If you're leaving teams out of the playoff that can win the national championship, then you don't have the right number," ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday when advocating for expanding the CFP from the current 12-team field, per David Ubben of The Athletic.

He also said he will look at 16 as the correct number but may even explore expanding it to more teams.

Conference commissioners and Notre Dame have until Jan. 23 to decide on the format for the 2026 season. Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports reported last month "there is growing confidence" it will remain at 12 teams next season even though there is discussion about expanding the field to 16 or even 24 teams.

Marcello noted "the crux of the issue" and "stalemate" is the SEC and Big Ten being "miles apart" in their preferences as the two most powerful conferences that will largely dictate how the process unfolds.

"The Big Ten seeks multiple automatic qualifiers for its conference, while the SEC prefers more at-large spots, which would historically favor the SEC," Marcello explained.

As for Phillips, his comments come after the ACC was under the spotlight leading up to the bracket reveal this season. The final two at-large spots came down to Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami, and the Fighting Irish were the ones left out even though they were ahead of the Hurricanes in every CFP poll until the final one.

Had Miami not made the field, the ACC would have been left out entirely since its conference champion in Duke was not among the five highest-ranked league title winners.

DUKE WINS IN OVERTIME

00:36

Miami jumped Notre Dame when both were idle during conference championship weekend, and it seemed like the Hurricanes' head-to-head win took more precedence when BYU lost in the Big 12 title game and was no longer in between them and the Fighting Irish in the rankings.

The ACC pushed for Miami leading up to the bracket reveal, both on social media and with public comments from Phillips:

Notre Dame, which has a scheduling partnership with the conference and is included in the ACC in other sports outside of football, wasn't happy about it. Athletic director Pete Bevacqua even said on The Dan Patrick Show the "ACC has done permanent damage" to that relationship.

Phillips released a statement in response explaining the conference's position and calling Notre Dame "an incredibly valued member of the ACC."

Yet if there were 16 teams in the field, both the Hurricanes and Fighting Irish would have been included. Given that as the backdrop, it isn't surprising Phillips is interested in expansion.