The entire offseason, all College Football fans have heard about were changes that could come to the College Football Playoff format. As things currently stand the only change that has been made was moving to a straight seeding format which ensures the best teams are ranked accordingly, rather than top rankings going to Conference Champions. The changes everyone has heard about all offseason long appear to still be a long way away.
The closest the expansion seemed was under a 16 team format with the Big Ten and SEC each getting 4 guaranteed bids into the Playoff while the ACC and Big 12 were guaranteed 2 bids each. This proposal had clear flaws as the ACC and Big 12 obviously took issues to the proposal before the SEC Coaches turned against it preferring a model with 5 bids for each conference champion and 11 at large bids.
On Tuesday Night, Brett McMurphy reported that the Conference Commissioners will "start over" on determining the 2026 College Football Playoff format.
Conference commissioners have decided to “start over” on determining 2026 College Football Playoff format, sources said. Big Ten & SEC initially wanted 4 AQs each w/2 each to ACC & Big 12. However, ACC & Big 12 pushed back. SEC coaches later publicly did not support 4 AQ model…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 18, 2025
The commissioners restarting this process is the clear decision, as the format with 10 automatic bids never should have been the focus. Guaranteeing that many bids into the Playoff was a massive flaw as a down year in the Big 10 or SEC would've resulted in too many undeserving teams making the Playoff potentially leaving the best teams out of the Playoff.
The 5+11 model that the SEC coaches prefer is most likely the best format for ensuring that the Regular Season matters while also rewarding the best teams in the Country. This format still puts a priority on winning your Conference which makes the Regular Season as important and values each Conference. Giving the remaining 11 bids to the best 11 teams ensures that the Playoff is being decided by the best teams in the Country rather than those teams who were given a benefit for their conference being given free passes.
The deadline is December 1st but, this issue should be ironed out ahead of the College Football season to keep the focus during the year on the season.