At this point, the question is not whether the College Football Playoff will expand, but rather by how many teams it will add once it does.
And while the Big Ten is willing to sign off on a 16-team playoff in the immediate future, the conference hasn’t abandoned its quest for a 24-team field.
With the Jan. 23 deadline for a new CFP format now less than two weeks away, ESPN’s Heather Dinich published a report regarding the behind-the-scenes negotiations currently taking place. According to Dinich, the Big Ten is willing to accept the SEC’s proposal for a 16-team field that would take effect for the 2026 season — on the condition that the SEC commits to a 24-team format after a few years.
“Sources say the Big Ten wants to use this as leverage to eventually lock in a field with at least 24 teams, with or without automatic qualifiers,” Dinich reports. “In exchange for support of a 16-team tournament now, sources said the Big Ten is looking for a commitment to move to 24 teams after two or three seasons. Though some in the room might be willing to consider a 24-team field halfway through the new six-year deal, there is a strong reluctance to commit to it now — and that could keep the stalemate ongoing.”
Dinich adds that despite Greg Sankey previously opposing the Big Ten’s proposal, the SEC commissioner could be open to a 24-team format that doesn’t involve automatic bids.
Such a shift would obviously be significant, as it would double the playoff’s current 12-team format. That appears to be a part of the reason why the Big Ten would be OK not implementing the model for a few more years, as it would require conferences to overhaul their own postseasons, including the potential elimination of conference championship games.
Dating back to last summer, the Big Ten has been floating a 24 — or even 28-team — playoff format, which has already received a public endorsement from Fox. In addition to an expanded postseason increasing revenue, one would imagine that the conference and its top media partner are hopeful that the increased inventory would mean that ESPN is less likely to control the entirety of the postseason following the expiration of its current deal, which runs through the 2031 season.
As for the likelihood that a 24-team playoff is agreed to between now and Jan. 23, Dinich noted that while it has some support, it still faces an uphill battle. By and large, college football’s top decision-makers appear to believe that it is too significant of a shift to agree to at this point, especially with so many questions still lingering.
Should Sankey decline to commit to supporting a 24-team field, it would be interesting to see if the Big Ten backs the SEC’s 16-team proposal. If a stalemate continues and the powers that be — the conference commissioners plus Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua — can’t agree on a new structure by the deadline, then the 12-team format will continue for at least another year.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.