Kalen DeBoer Shares Thoughts on Potential College Football Playoff Expansion

There truly is no such thing as an "offseason" when it comes to college football.

After missing the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff during the 2024-25 season (it was a 4-team field the previous 10 years), head coach Kalen DeBoer and Alabama made the cut this past season as the No. 9 seed. The Crimson Tide beat 8-seed Oklahoma on the road in the first round but fell to 1-seed Indiana, the eventual national champion, in the quarterfinals round at the Rose Bowl.

There have been talks to expand the 12-team field for quite some time. The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament moved from 68 to 76 teams on May 7, and similar ideas for football have only heated up since then. DeBoer spoke with reporters at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, about his thoughts on the size of the CFP field.

“I’ve heard the arguments from obviously 12 [teams]," DeBoer said. "I know 12, 16, and 24 seem to be the most popular, right? So, I can make an argument for all of them. I know for me, it’s really not about a number. It’s about just trying to win every football game, so you don’t have to put it in a committee’s hands and that’s our goal as a program at Alabama.”

The CFP committee gives automatic bids to the champions of the Power 4 conferences, plus one for a member of the Group of 6.

Former Alabama head coach and current College GameDay analyst Nick Saban has been a strong advocate for the best four teams, or as of the past two years, the best 12 teams, should make the College Football Playoff. DeBoer has the same beliefs.

"To me, when it comes to the Playoff and the number, it’s about making sure that the best teams are in the Playoff," DeBoer said. "So, are the 12 best teams in the Playoff, or the 16, the 24? Are those the best teams in there? I mean, that’s really, in all fairness, as a competitor, that’s what you want. It’s just, are the 12 best teams in there? If we can’t get the 12, we’ve got to go to 16, whatever it might be."

DeBoer has made it clear that the number of teams in the CFP isn't his top concern. But regardless of what the committee lands on, the SEC's new 9-game schedule will play a role. The SEC has the most CFP appearances, wins, and national titles.

"How does [the 9-game schedule] play in? I don’t think there’s a way to understand because there’s not some secret formula. We know that there’s going to be less games out of conference, which is going to make it harder to understand the strength of schedule that we all have, whether it’s the SEC or other conferences.

And so, those are the things that I can’t sit here and dwell on. I've just got to do what I've got to do with my football team, and that’s help us win every single game to make sure it doesn’t come down to a committee making a decision.”

Alabama's College Football Playoff History

2014-15: No. 1 seed, lost semifinal
2015-16: No. 2 seed, won National Championship
2016-17: No. 1 seed, lost National Championship
2017-18: No. 4 seed, won National Championship
2018-19: No. 1 seed, lost National Championship
2020-21: No. 1 seed, won National Championship
2021-22: No. 1 seed, lost National Championship
2023-24: No. 4 seed, lost semifinal
2025-26: No. 9 seed, lost quarterfinal

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