The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is advocating for a significant expansion of the College Football Playoff (CFP) system. During a joint meeting held outside Jacksonville, the conference’s coaches and athletic directors expressed unanimous support for increasing the number of teams in the CFP from 12 to 24.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips participated in the discussions, as confirmed by sources to CBS Sports. On Wednesday morning, Phillips spoke to reporters, emphasizing the need for expansion.
“I’ve consistently stated that when national championship-caliber teams are excluded from the playoff, it’s clear that the format needs to be adjusted,” Phillips remarked.
This call for expansion follows a similar proposal from the American Football Coaches Association, which also advocated for a 24-team playoff structure last week. This concept was initially suggested by the Big Ten last year. Recently, various conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua, excluding SEC’s Greg Sankey, gathered during a White House presidential committee meeting to express their shared interest in the expanded format.
The Big 12 Conference is also in favor of this change, as confirmed by Commissioner Brett Yormark in a conversation with CBS Sports.
“The Big 12 is supportive of a 24-team playoff, pending a thorough analysis of the logistics and financial implications,” Yormark stated.
The development places pressure on the SEC, which has yet to move beyond public support for a 12- or 16-team format. The SEC’s annual spring meetings with athletic directors, coaches and university presidents are scheduled to begin May 26.
“We’ll see what comes out of SEC meetings — and Big Ten meetings and Big 12 meetings,” said Phillips, who added that ESPN — which broadcasts the event — has been “pretty clear” to commissioners that it would prefer the CFP to remain at 12 teams or an expansion model involving no more than 16.
The Big Ten and SEC share controlling interest in the playoff’s format, and any decision on expansion must be reached in unison between the two most powerful conferences in college football. The two sides did not see eye to eye during expansion talks last summer and fall, leading to the CFP remaining at 12 teams for the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Athletic directors and commissioners are wrestling with how to replace the broadcast revenue tied to conference championship games, money that would disappear under a 24-team format, with new revenue from an expanded playoff field. The ACC was expected to present revenue projections for a 24-team format to athletic directors on Wednesday, sources told CBS Sports.
“I don’t love those things going away,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, “but I don’t see any other path forward, because, again, you’ve got to shorten the season. You’ve got to move it up.”
FBS coaches at the AFCA meetings raised concerns about the length of the season and the long layoffs facing playoff teams. Some sit three-plus weeks between the end of the regular season and a quarterfinal game after earning a first-round bye. The AFCA proposed expanding the playoff and starting the postseason the week after the regular season, the weekend currently reserved for conference championship games. Games would run through December, with the season ending by the second Monday in January, well ahead of next season’s Jan. 25 title game.
Meanwhile, momentum is building to start the college football season one week earlier, in what is currently Week 0, the final week of August. The Division I FBS Oversight Committee recommended the earlier start to fit 12 games into 14 weeks. Most ACC coaches, though, prefer a schedule with only one bye week rather than two.
