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A lot of the news in college football on Wednesday has surrounded what will happen with the College Football Playoff. The 2026 format for the playoffs has been a hot topic due to its expansion to 16 teams in 2026 and how it should work out. The key argument stemmed from two different formats, the 4+4+2+2+1+3 model and the 5+11 model. The Power Four have failed to come up with a consensus on what the format should look like, and now they are back to the drawing board.
According to college football insider Brett McMurphy, the conference commissioners have decided to completely start over in their talks to decide on the format for the 2026 College Football Playoff and beyond. The initial format had four automatic qualifiers for the SEC and Big Ten. Two were for both the ACC and the Big 12, but those conferences were pushed back, and they wanted a 5+11 model where only the conference champions and the highest Group of Five team got automatic bids.
McMurphy elaborated after the ACC and Big 12 pushed back: “SEC coaches later publicly did not support the 4 AQ model, instead preferring the 5 AQ+11 at-large format for a 16-team playoff, as did ACC & Big 12. The SEC wants more value given to strength-of-schedule metrics, something CFP executives discussed in today's meetings. However, a source cautioned that even if the strength of schedule is supposed to carry more weight with the committee, it still boils down to their opinions on who they think are the best teams.”
The good news is that the commissioners have until Dec. 1 to finalize the format. The 5+11 model seems to be gaining the most steam as we enter this new round of negotiations.
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However, one of the issues keeping this format from getting finalized is that the Big Ten wants the SEC to play nine conference games for this format to be approved. They reason that one game can make or break seeding and whether a team makes it in or not, and it's unfair for the Big Ten to have an extra game against a power school, while the SEC consistently plays an additional game usually reserved for smaller schools.
The support for the SEC going to nine games seems to be split, but the Texas athletic director, Chris Del Conte, was one of the vocal voices supporting that expansion. It remains to be seen how much support this idea gets.
The commissioners have a lot to focus on as we get into this round of negotiations. It remains to be seen how much anyone will budge, or if we see a new model come into focus before the deadline.
