The College Football Playoff is set to keep its 12-team structure for the 2026 season, as announced by the CFP Management Committee on Friday, following failed negotiations between the Big Ten and SEC over future playoff formats. The Big Ten is advocating for an expansion to a 24-team bracket that includes several automatic qualifiers, while the SEC favors a 16-team arrangement, often referred to as the “5+11” format.

Under the SEC’s proposal, the five highest-ranked conference champions would receive guaranteed bids, and the CFP management committee, led by its executive director Rich Clark, highlighted the importance of maintaining the current format to allow for further evaluation of potential changes.

College Football has enjoyed increased excitement under this playoff format, and additional assessment time has been deemed beneficial. Although the Big Ten indicated a readiness to consider a 16-team format temporarily if there was an agreed transition toward a 24-team format in the future, no resolution was reached to enforce such a change.

The Big Ten has continually dominated the recent College Football Playoff National Championships, winning three in a row, while the SEC has not participated in the title game since Georgia defeated TCU in 2022. Miami represented the ACC in the 2025-26 national title matchup.