College Football Playoff Format to Remain at Four Teams Through 2025 Season

If you're not a fan of the four-team College Football Playoff format, today is not your day.

Bill Hancock, the College Football Playoff's executive director, announced Friday that the playoff format will not be expanded and will remain at four teams through the remainder of the contract, which runs through the 2025 season.

The College Football Playoff recently completed its eighth season of its 12-year contract, signed prior to the 2014 season. The CFP Board of Managers and the CFP Management Committee have met multiple times since the expansion was proposed in June and met once again on Thursday via video conference.

The video conference resulted in the board of managers accepting a recommendation from the management committee (made up of the commissioners of the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick) to play out the remainder of the 12-year contract.

Hancock wrote the following in the statement:

"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. 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.

"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. 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."

Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff took to Twitter to react to Friday's news. Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 were in favor of expansion, particularly the 12-team format proposed in June, and wanted automatic bids for Power 5 conference champions. A Pac-12 team has not earned a spot in the College Football Playoff since Washington qualified in 2016.

Many college football fans have asked for an expansion of the playoff due to a lack of parity in qualifying teams and the common blowouts in the semifinals. Of the 16 semifinal games, only three have been decided by one score. But now, fans will have to wait four seasons to see any potential changes to the format.

Join the Community

Follow Dylan on Twitter: @drksportsnews

Subscribe to our free newsletter to get the latest Oregon Ducks news sent to your inbox

Join the discussion on our forums HERE

Add us as a preferred source on Google