CFP Will Not Expand Before 2026 season

Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff, announced Friday the College Football Playoff will not expand until the original four-team playoff expires at the end of the 2025 season.

"The Board of Managers has accepted a recommendation from the Management Committee to continue the current four-team playoff for the next four years, as called for in the CFP's original 12-year plan," Hancock said in a press release. "At the same time, the Board expects the Management Committee to continue its discussions of a new format that would go into effect for the 2026-27 season."

Last summer, the CFP announced it was looking into expanding the playoff, possibly, before the end of the 2025 season. They were looking at a possible 8- or 12-team model. However, after the SEC announced Oklahoma and Texas are leaving the Big 12 and are expected to join its conference in 2025, there became pushback in expansion talk.

Also, issues regrading the transfer portal, NIL and other topics led to putting a hold on expansion.

Last month, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips was very outspoken about expansion at this time.

As SI.com's Madeline Coleman reported on Jan. 14, Phillips said there are multiple aspects that are complicating expansion right now—the length of season, impact on bowls, athlete healthcare, academic calendar, NCAA governance structure and federal legislation to name a few.

He continued by saying there are “much larger issues” that the ACC is more focused on working with other conferences on right now, such as NCAA reform, transfer portal and NIL to name a few. "We don't have a college football playoff problem. We have a college football and NCAA problem.” 

Clemson has represented the ACC in the CFP six times, second only to Alabama, since it began in 2014. In fact, this past season was the first time is seven years the Tigers did not make the CFP.

The Tigers have played for the CFP National Championship four times in the playoff era, including victories in the title game in 2017 and 2019. Clemson beat Alabama, 35-31, in the 2017 championship game and, 44-16, in the 2019 championship.

Clemson also advanced to the title games in 2016 and 2020, losing to Alabama and LSU in both contests. Only Alabama, with six appearances, has played in the CFP Championship Game more than the Tigers.

According to Hancock, the CFP Board of Managers met via video conference on Thursday, as a follow-up to a video meeting earlier this week conducted by the CFP Management Committee.

"Even though the outcome did not lead to a recommendation for an early expansion before the end of the current 12-year contract, the discussions have been helpful and informative," he said. "I am sure they will serve as a useful guide for the Board of Managers and for the Management Committee as we determine what the Playoff will look like beginning in the 2026-2027 season.

"I thank the working group for its hard work that resulted in the 12-team proposal, and the Management Committee for its thorough and diligent job reviewing it and other possible expansion ideas. This has been a long, careful, and detailed process that involved many people considering a complex matter. I am grateful to everyone for their dedication to college football and the detailed and deliberative effort everyone put into the consideration of a different format. I know the four-team event will continue to be successful."