Overview
- ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday the league supports a 24-team College Football Playoff, the national postseason tournament, after coaches and athletic directors reached consensus at spring meetings in Florida.
- Any new format needs both the SEC and Big Ten to agree, leaving the SEC as the key holdout after the Big Ten previously pushed 24 teams and the ACC and Big 12 lined up behind that larger bracket.
- Phillips said ESPN wants the playoff capped at no higher than 16 teams, a preference that complicates efforts to add games that could draw in other bidders.
- CFP staff and media consultants are now modeling whether extra rights fees from 12 additional playoff games would replace money from conference title games, with industry estimates placing that shortfall near $250 million.
- The playoff will stay at 12 teams for the 2026–27 season, with a Dec. 1, 2026 deadline for changes that could start in 2027, making late-May SEC meetings and a June CFP session in Denver pivotal moments.