The College Football Playoff has been around for over a decade now, which in reality isn't that long. But the CFP has already seen a major change when the field expanded from four teams to 12 with the first season of expansion taking place this past season.
The current version of the College Football Playoff will remain in effect for this coming season, but the CFP could see some major changes in 2026.
Ross Dellenger with Yahoo Sports published an article explaining the changes that could be coming, but it's important to note that the SEC and Big Ten has full control over what happens. Executives from 10 leagues and Notre Dame signed a memorandum that gave the SEC and Big Ten control of what happens to the CFP beginning in 2026 when the current contract expires, and discussions have run rampant surrounding what changes they could make.
And according to Dellenger, these changes the two conferences could land on will be massive.
Increase in Automatic Qualifiers
At it stands in the 12-team format, only five teams earn an automatic bid into the CFP. Those automatic bids go to the five highest ranked conference champions, with the four highest ranked champions receiving an automatic bye to the quarterfinals.
But one of the changes the SEC and Big Ten are very weighing is giving both of their conferences more automatic bids. In fact, they want to give each conference four bids into the CFP every season with the ACC and Big 12 receiving two each. There will still be room for teams to get in as an at-large selection, but the amount of those selections is dependant on the size of the playoff.
14-team Model
One model that has been floated around is a 14-team CFP. The first thing worth mentioning is that the top two seeds would receive a bye into the quarterfinals while the 12 other teams battle it out for the final six spots in the quarterfinals.
But how would the 14 teams be selected?
According to Dellenger, the SEC and Big Ten would have four automatic bids each with the ACC and Big 12 getting two teams in each. The highest ranked Group of Five champion would also get in which would leave one at-large selection. However, that spot would be guaranteed to Notre Dame if they finish inside the top 14 of the playoff rankings.
16-team Model
The 16-team model is the exact same as the 14-team model, just with more at-large selections. The Big Ten and SEC still get four teams automatically with the Big 12 and ACC getting two. The highest ranked Group of Five Champion gets in as well which would leave three at-large selections with one automatically going to Notre Dame if they finish inside the top 14.
This model would also mean there would be no byes like there are with the current 12-team bracket or the proposed 14-team model.
SEC Season
The last thing Dellenger discussed was the SEC increasing their number of conference games from eight to nine. The SEC executives have been hesitant to do this the last few years in fear of the extra game causing more losses for the SEC's top teams which would in turn hurt their chances at making it into the CFP. However, with four automatic bids potentially going to the conference, the SEC would likely add an extra conference game which would match the nine that the Big Ten has been playing for some time now.
It will be interesting to see what changes are proposed and implemented and what the reaction will be from the entire country. For Kirby Smart and Georgia football, these changes would be great as it would make it that much easier to make the CFP each year. These changes would also make it more likely that Georgia would get to host a playoff game in Athens which would be extremely fun for the entire fanbase.
Dellenger stated that the CFP Management Committee is scheduled to meet again on Feb. 25, and there is a chance that any potential changes to the College Football Playoff in 2026 could be announced then.