College football has yet to name a champion under the new 12-team playoff format, but talk of further expansion is already underway.
Reports surfaced this week that College Football Playoff discussions are leaning towards a 14-team format by 2026. However, the idea of automatic byes for the champions of the SEC and Big Ten conferences is facing immense criticism and may be dropped altogether.
ESPN’s Rece Davis talked about the playoff on his College GameDay podcast, saying that he’s already hearing whispers of a potential 16-team playoff. While the current contract extends two more years, conference commissioners seem eager to push beyond the recently agreed-upon 12-team format, seeking a grander postseason structure—even if its merits are debatable.
Despite acknowledging potential financial hurdles, Davis advocated for the move to a 16-team format amidst discussions of a 14-team playoff.
“Since we have expanded beyond the very small playoff, I would prefer just going ahead and going to 16, playing the first two rounds on campus, and eliminating conference championship games,” Davis said. “Now, along with that, each of these mega conferences — and the others too, if they wanted to — would play 10-game schedules in-conference and then not required but strongly encouraged to play another power team from the outside. Whether that’s crossover SEC/Big Ten or ACC, Big 12, whatever. You can play two if you want to, but definitely play at least one of your non-conference games like that.”
Davis believes a larger television inventory would benefit both the Big Ten and the SEC. This would allow the conference to create more games, which Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti desires. Additionally, Davis is confident that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is assured, and rightly so, that the SEC will be well-represented regardless of the final number of games.
“It would also give a great deal of interest to those games, too,” Davis continued. “And you would have more opportunities to see Texas against Tennessee, or whatever it might be that you might not see if you have a smaller number of games in your conference schedule.”
Though just a podcast proposition, Davis’s ambitious 16-team playoff concept amplifies the college football world’s constant push for expansion, even before the new 12-team format sees its debut. While Davis isn’t solely driving this desire, his position as an ESPN college football analyst likely reflects the commissioners’ thinking, underlining the relentless pursuit of an even bigger and better postseason structure.
[On3, College GameDay Podcast]
