The College Football Playoff continues to go through changes as 2026-27 will be the 3rd season under the expanded 12 team format. While the 12 team College Football Playoff continues to settle into the yearly calendar, it's clear there are still some major kinks in the operation. Considering how much the Playoff could improve, it makes expansion of the CFP at this point a less attractive idea.
Adding teams to Playoff field would only complicate some of the biggest issues with the format at this point. The schedule is already too long as the College Football Playoff National Championship will be played on January 25th, nearly 5 months after the start of the season. Then you have to consider how messy broadcasting the additional games would make the Playoff.
TNT and ESPN's split for the College Football Playoff is difficult for fans
In 2024, ESPN and TNT reached a notable deal as the Television landscape shifted with the NBA package moving away from TNT. As ESPN added Inside the NBA from TNT, ESPN sublicensed out a package of College Football Playoff games from 2026 through 2028.
That deal kicks off this season, and when the College Football Playoff announced their plans for the upcoming season, fans got their first look at the split.
NEWS: The CFP, ESPN and TNT Sports have announced dates, kick times and broadcast information for the 2026-27 edition of the College Football Playoff.
— CFP (@CFBPlayoff) June 1, 2026
🔗 Read more at https://t.co/woIFWrQKbE#CFP pic.twitter.com/R8a2cQWYcZ
The biggest issue for fans may be the fact that there's a near 50/50 split between ESPN and it's partners and TNT along with TruTv and HBO Max. Throughout each round, College Football fans will have to count on having each of the networks in order to watch all of the games compared to previous years.
In this modern era where more fans continue to move towards streaming, and away from cable a split like this is a setback for the fans. College Football fans could constantly count on just needing ESPN, but now TNT, TruTV, and HBO Max will be another piece to fit into the puzzle over the next three years.
If TNT sees great results from broadcasting this many College Football Playoff games, it could become a mainstay long term. Football continues to drive ratings, and this split may be a great pitch to the Conference Commissioners to start shopping even regular season packages among several networks to make the most money.
Among the other notable pieces from the College Football Playoff announcement are issues like the schedule itself. The longest break somehow comes between the quarterfinals and semifinals which is odd to see. The schedule is clearly too long with the National Championship being played on January 25th for a sport that starts in August.
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