The ACC coaches and athletic directors unanimously endorsed expanding the College Football Playoff (CFP) from 12 to 24 teams during spring meetings from May 12 to 13, 2026 [1, 2, 3]. ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips publicly announced the conference’s support for a 24-team format on May 13, stating, "Our desire with the coaches and the ADs is 24. When you’re leaving national championship-contending teams out of the playoff, you don’t have the right number" [2, 4]. He added, "If you’re going to ask presidents and chancellors and boards to continue to invest in their football programs, it’s really important that they have hope, that they have an opportunity at the beginning of the season to get into the playoff" [2].
The Big Ten and Big 12 also endorse expanding the CFP to 24 teams. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark publicly supports the 24-team format while emphasizing economic and scheduling considerations. He said, "The Big 12 likes 24, subject to doing the work and figuring out the economics" [1, 4]. Big Ten officials have actively proposed the expansion after the 2025-2026 season [1, 4].
In contrast, the SEC favors a smaller expansion to 16 teams, resisting a move to 24. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said, "We’re trying to inform that with research. We’ve done that, from our perspective, with 16. We want to understand, through some analytic support, games that matter in an expanded environment, and games that might not matter" [3]. The SEC and Big Ten hold controlling interests in CFP governance, meaning any expansion requires their agreement [1, 3]. SEC spring meetings are scheduled to begin May 26, where officials are expected to reaffirm support for a 16-team playoff [1].
Currently, the CFP includes 12 teams, providing playoff access to about 9% of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Expanding to 24 teams would increase access to roughly 17.4%, a rate closer to the Football Championship Subdivision’s playoff inclusion [2]. Expansion could also replace conference championship games with play-in matchups and possibly shorten the season [1, 5].
Some coaches, including Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, support the 24-team format but acknowledge they have limited influence on the final decision. Swinney said, "It doesn’t really matter what I think" [1, 3].
The CFP’s latest broadcasting contract with ESPN runs six years. ESPN reportedly favors maintaining a playoff size of 12 to 16 teams and may be a factor delaying the move to 24 because of economic and broadcast rights concerns [4, 5]. The contract affects which networks can bid on potential additional games generated by expansion [5].
ACC Commissioner Phillips and Big 12 Commissioner Yormark both note that economic and scheduling issues must be resolved before expanding to 24 teams [1, 4]. The coming SEC spring meetings on May 26 will be closely watched for the conference’s updated stance on playoff size.
