CFP Format Questions Loom Over Spring Meetings

Leaders of the College Football Playoff are gathering just outside Dallas this week for annual spring meetings, with major questions about the future makeup of the sport’s postseason unanswered.

Beginning Tuesday, the CFP management committee—made up of FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua—will meet through Thursday morning to discuss not only standard logistical and financial operations for the upcoming season but also ideas about how the expanded, 12-team Playoff could further evolve.

However, one CFP source told Front Office Sports they did not expect any major format or seeding changes to be approved this week.

What’s on the Table

The format of the 2026 CFP and beyond is still undetermined, but unless the committee unanimously approves changes this spring or summer, the 2025 Playoff will be identical to last year’s: First-round byes for the four highest-ranked conference champions, another automatic spot—but not a bye week—for the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion, and the next seven highest-ranked teams at the end of the season.

Potential changes that could eventually be made include:

• More automatic qualifiers for the Big Ten and SEC
• A shift to straight seeding to determine first-round byes
• Expanding to 14 or 16 teams
• More on-campus home games

All of those ideas, and more, are expected to be discussed this week, even if there is no vote to implement any alterations.  

Waiting Game

With the 2026 format still needed to be approved, the committee may prefer to wait to make changes to things like seeding, the source said, instead of incrementally rolling out changes. Beginning in 2026, the Big Ten and SEC will hold the majority of decision-making power and receive a majority of revenue from the CFP. 

The CFP’s leaders will meet again in June and September, when more discussions—and potential votes—on changes are expected.