Common sense prevails as College Football Playoff expansion stalls for 2026

On Monday Night, we saw the College Football Playoff come to an end officially bringing in the offseason. One of the biggest stories over the past several years has been the potential to expand the College Football Playoff after we saw the field move from 4 teams to 12. The issue is that the conference commissioners haven't been able to land on a format everyone agrees upon.

There have been discussions for the Playoff to expand to as little as 14 teams to as many as 24 teams which would've been incredibly drastic. As often happens, none of these figures ruling over the sport want to compromise which is why we haven't seen the field expand since the first 12-Team Playoff.

The 2026 College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams

On Friday Morning, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that the College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams for the 2026 season with a formal announcement to be released later on Friday.

The College Football Playoff committee not expanding the field should be considered a win for common sense. The 12 team format has only be in effect for two seasons, and we haven't had nearly enough of a sample size to say if this is the right format or not, but to jump and double the field would've been truly insane.

The first 12 team College Football Playoff clearly had some flaws, and this offseason the commissioners changed how we handle the byes which made a ton of sense. The next topic of discussion is now going to be about having byes as the teams who have spent extended time off have struggled.

The biggest issue that needs to be changed is the calendar for the Playoff as it's going to take way too long. The 2026 National Championship Game will be played on January 25th which is just far too long of a season.

The next months will have a ton of discussion about expansion again, but for now staying at 12 teams is the best for the sport.