College football's postseason is once again caught in the middle of a power struggle, and it’s the SEC and Big Ten sitting at the head of the table, flexing their influence over the rest of the sport.
According to a new report from Ross Dellenger, the fight over the future College Football Playoff format has gotten messy—and that's putting it lightly.
Right now, negotiations are centered on a 16-team format that would begin in 2026. The SEC and Big Ten want four automatic bids each. That would leave the ACC and Big 12 with just two spots apiece, plus a spot reserved for the top-ranked Group of Five champion. That’s the infamous 4-4-2-2-1 model that’s drawing heat from just about every direction outside of Birmingham and Chicago.
The ACC Isn’t Sitting Quietly, But Will It Matter?
ACC coaches and administrators, according to Dellenger’s reporting, are pushing back—and they want more than just two guaranteed spots. At their recent spring meetings in Florida, some even suggested the ACC should demand three automatic qualifiers.
NC State head coach Dave Doeren was one of the more vocal supporters of the idea, saying flat out: "We believe we deserve three as a minimum."
That’s a bold request, considering the political landscape. The ACC, let's be honest, doesn’t carry the same weight as the SEC or Big Ten in these boardrooms, and the other two leagues are holding most of the cards right now thanks to the memorandum of understanding they signed to extend the CFP television deal through 2031.
Still, it's not out of the question for the ACC to push for a 4-4-3-3-1 model—four AQs for the SEC and Big Ten, three each for the ACC and Big 12, and one for the Group of Five, or even a 4-4-3-2-1 model, leaving the Big 12 out. The problem? That would essentially wipe away the pool of at-large spots. And that’s not something the power brokers in the SEC and Big Ten are likely to be excited about, especially when they expect several of their fifth teams to be good enough to earn those spots in any given year.
Could Notre Dame Change the Game?
Now, here’s the wildcard no one is really talking about: Notre Dame.
Right now, the Fighting Irish are protected in the current format—they can’t earn an automatic qualifier but are eligible for at-large spots if they finish inside the top 16. But in a 4-4-2-2-1 world, Notre Dame could see its path to the playoff squeezed tighter than ever.
What if the ACC dangled the idea of three guaranteed bids, and pitched it to Notre Dame as a way to secure their postseason future? Would that be enough to finally nudge the Irish into joining the conference fully for football? It’s a long shot, but not completely out of the realm of possibility if Notre Dame starts to feel boxed out, which we know for a fact that the Irish are not in favor of the SEC and Big Ten's proposal.
After all, if the ACC could guarantee three spots—and Notre Dame would claim one more often than not—the Irish would have a much safer and more predictable road to the playoff than hoping to squeeze in as an at-large team while competing against an even deeper pool of SEC and Big Ten squads.
But again, this is speculative. Notre Dame has famously valued its independence, and giving that up wouldn’t come lightly, and the announced scheduling agreement with Clemson probably confirms that this isn't happening.
Could There Be a Middle Ground?
If the ACC and Big 12 can’t secure three AQs each, there may be a compromise on the table. There’s been some chatter—though nothing concrete yet—that the SEC and Big Ten might throw a bone to the other leagues by ensuring that at least one of the at-large bids goes to the highest-ranked remaining ACC or Big 12 team, likely under some stipulation related to rankings.
That wouldn’t give them a full-fledged automatic spot, but it would at least ensure that the conferences have more than just two teams in the field when they’re deserving. Essentially, it would be a backdoor concession to keep the peace.
This approach would allow the SEC and Big Ten to keep their four auto-bids each while still giving the appearance of fairness to the rest of the college football world. It would also protect the perception of the playoff as a "national" event, rather than a two-conference invitational.
But make no mistake: these are desperate times for the ACC and Big 12. Both leagues know their long-term future looks bleak, and the SEC and Big Ten are more than happy to let them fight for table scraps if they can get away with it.