Authored By Tim O’Keeffe, Esq. & Aidan Hickey J.D.
College football fans can soon expect more high stakes college football between the best teams in the nation in the coming years! In September, the College Football Playoffs (“CFP”) board of managers unanimously voted to expand the CFP from four (4) to twelve (12) teams, beginning in 2026 (although the board is trying to encourage sport’s commissioners to implement it as soon as 2024).
How will a 12-team CFP work? The teams will continue to be ranked by the college football selection committee. Once the regular season concludes, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four, and each receive a first-round bye. Eight (8) additional teams will be selected by ranking to compete in the Playoffs. While the complete structure and organization is not set, it is likely that the playoffs will incorporate new and different bowl games than the current CFP structure.
The debate over whether or not to expand the college football playoffs to 12 teams has been a hot topic for years. Some have argued that it would water down the importance of the regular season, while others argue that a 12-team playoff would provide more opportunities for the teams to compete for a national championship. The new 12-team format could also lead to more money for all and potentially more parity in the sport. Teams with phenomenal players and records are frequently not selected to compete in the current CFB Playoffs (see the 2017 12-0 UCF Golden Knights). Many of these snubs come from mid major conferences such as the MAC, Conference USA, and The American where the competition is not perceived to be as high as bigger conferences such as the SEC. These mid major schools will now have a better chance to prove they belong at the top, and with more money coming in as they play on bigger stages, smaller schools will have a better chance of competing with the bigger schools. This could make for an overall more competitive and exciting playoff system.
There’s money to be made by the athletes as well. Starting last year, college athletes are now able to profit off their own names, images, and likenesses (“NIL”). This means they can sign endorsement deals, appear in commercials, and do other things to make money. The expanded CFP format is likely to produce star athletes who will have a greater opportunity to repeatedly compete on the biggest stage, and cash in on NIL deals that come along the way.
One thing is for sure: the college football playoff system is about to get a lot more interesting!