College Football Moves One Step Closer To A 12-Team Playoff

According to multiple sources, including Heather Dinich and Pete Thamel of ESPN, the College Football Playoff moved one giant step closer to expansion today. The CFP Board of Managers voted today to expand the playoff to 12 teams.

The Board of Managers voted on the proposal that was proposed in 2021, which is a 12-team model that includes the six highest ranked conference champions and six at-large teams. Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick was part of the group that put together the original proposal.

The final step is to figure out the details from a timing standpoint. Today's vote was to expand in 2026, but Swarbrick and the FBS conference commissioners will work to figure out a way to implement it sooner.

What we don't know how this model will be impacted should conferences eventually contract. Right now the Big 12, Pac 12 and ACC are fighting to hold off the Big Ten and SEC from taking more of their teams. The Big Ten has already taken USC and UCLA from the Pac 12, and the SEC raided the Big 12 to steal Texas and Oklahoma.

For Notre Dame, the one specific aspect that impacts them is the fact that being an independent means the Irish cannot be one of the top four seeds. In the current model the top four seeds would get a first round bye, but the byes go to the four highest ranked conference champions.

Here's a look at the years Notre Dame would have made the playoff in past seasons, and where they would have been seeded if the new model was implemented originally.

2021 - #5 Seed
2020 - #5 Seed (were #4 in the 2020 rankings)
2018 - #5 Seed (were #3 in the 2018 rankings)
2015 - #8 Seed

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