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The College Football Playoff Will Remain 12 Teams After SEC and Big Ten Failed to Agree on Expansion
The College Football Playoff keeps its 12-team format for 2026 after Big Ten and SEC deadlock, with new rules guaranteeing Power Four champions and Notre Dame an at-large spot.
- On Friday, the College Football Playoff Management Committee announced the CFP will remain a 12-team field for the 2026-27 season.
- The Big Ten and SEC deadlock over size and bids blocked expansion as the Big Ten pushed for a 24-team field while the SEC favored a 16-team model.
- Under the tweaks, the management committee guaranteed all Power Four champions a spot and Notre Dame an at-large if ranked inside the top 12, with games at Allegiant Stadium on Jan. 25, 2027.
- The ruling also provides additional time for evaluation and talks, as the CFP Management Committee continues negotiations and reviews how Duke would have qualified under revised rules.
- Momentum for expansion had grown in recent months, with a memorandum of understanding concentrating control with the Big Ten and SEC as ACC and SEC shift to nine-game league schedules, increasing committee challenges.
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With College Football Playoff not growing, Notre Dame needs to be Top 12 for a bid. Here’s its path in 2026.
CHICAGO — After controversially being left out of the College Football Playoff in 2025, Notre Dame knows what it has to do to get into the 2026 playoff — be ranked in the Top 12. The College Football Playoff announced…
·Helena, United States
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Jon Wilner: Here’s why the College Football Playoff format will remain the same in 2026
The College Football Playoff’s 12-team format will remain in place for at least the 2026 season after Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey failed to agree on an expansion plan by the Friday deadline. As with so much about college football, where self-interest reigns and sanity is scarce, the outcome isn’t ideal but could have been much, much worse. Sankey preferred a 16-team playoff model that was supported by nine …
·San Diego, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources88
Leaning Left19Leaning Right5Center45Last UpdatedBias Distribution65% Center
Bias Distribution
- 65% of the sources are Center
65% Center
L 28%
C 65%
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