College Football HQ

Big Ten and SEC power struggle blocks College Football Playoff expansion

While the other college football conferences want the CFP to expand, the SEC and Big Ten are holding it up.
Joe Cox|
Greg Sankey and the SEC are locked in a power struggle with the Big Ten over the future of the CFP.
Greg Sankey and the SEC are locked in a power struggle with the Big Ten over the future of the CFP. | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

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When it comes to College Football Playoff expansion, nobody is happy. The growing consensus is that even a 12-team Playoff simply isn't enough. But the details and exact facts of expansion are sitting on hold with a 12-team Playoff again slated for 2026.

The public story is that expansion is still being bandied about, with the CFP needing more time to consider potential changes. But On3sports's Brett McMurphy calls that account "bulls--t."

SEC vs. Big Ten (vs. Any Changes)

What McMurphy's report confirms has otherwise been seen in drips and drops of information-- the SEC and Big Ten have divergent views of the CFP's future. McMurphy reports that inside sources confirm that the SEC and Big Ten basically claimed discretionary power and now can't come to any agreement over the future of the CFP, because they can't even talk to each other.

The Big Ten reportedly is seeking a 24-team Playoff, with power leagues claiming multiple automatic bids and "play-in" games behind played. The SEC is seeking a 16-team Playoff with five automatic bids for conference champions (presumably the four power leagues, plus the top G5 league) and 11 at-large bids.

Critics of CFP expansion have pointed out that expansion will likely need to come at the cost of conference championship games or will require some mechanism of moving the schedule up so that the season will finish ahead of the end of January (next year's CFP final is set for January 25th). ESPN's Josh Pate unveiled a relatively straight-forward plan that would help the calendar, but if the SEC and Big Ten won't listen to each other, the odds of both listening to a random broadcaster are probably slim.

2026's Minor CFP Changes

McMurphy's article notes that the other leagues are behind the SEC's plan, but the Big Ten has forced a stalemate. Instead of any real changes, the 2026 CFP will be under the same 12-team format, but with a few minor tweaks to the system.

Most notably, Notre Dame has a special assurance that if the Irish are ranked in the CFP top 12 (as they were last season), they will have a CFP berth. No other team has such an arrangement, but it is a perk of Notre Dame's Independent situation.

Meanwhile, each power conference champion will get an automatic CFP spot, regardless of the rankings of the teams. Duke would have gotten a Playoff spot under this plan had it been in effect for the 2025 season. The top G5 ranked team will get a CFP spot, regardless of whether it's a conference champion. In essence then, these rules applied to 2025 would have put Notre Dame in, Tulane in (as it was), and Duke in, and left Miami and James Madison out.

Freeman
Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame hold a major benefit with their "top 12 guarantee" for the 2026 College Football Playoff. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images
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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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