Though Auburn football made two BCS Championship trips in three years a decade ago, the Tigers still have not yet made it to the four-team college football playoffs. After the title process was expanded from two teams to four, many fans of the game were excited, but for some, it still wasn’t enough.
For years, people have been begging for an expansion to the college football playoffs. Many believe that it simply isn’t enough to allow only the top four teams to compete for the prestigious title. In June, a committee from the CFP announced a 12-team format has been developed, but expansion talks were derailed when it was announced that Oklahoma and Texas would be joining the SEC following the 2024-25 season.
Today, news broke that the CFP commissioners were unable to reach an agreement and that the four-team format will remain until the current contract runs out following the 2025 season:
BREAKING: The College Football Playoff will stay at four teams through the duration of its current contract, source tells @TheAthletic. No expanded field until 2026 at the earliest.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) February 18, 2022
So how will this impact Auburn football in the coming years? It means that the Tigers are going to have to do a lot of winning to even be considered for the college football playoffs. With Alabama consistently sitting on top of the SEC West and Georgia dominating the SEC East and both of those teams landing on the Tigers’ schedule every year, things are looking pretty challenging for Auburn.
Under the current format of just four teams, Auburn would have to beat both Alabama and Georgia in the regular season as well as win the SEC Championship to be considered for the playoffs, which is no small feat, especially when the conference championship competitor could be Georgia again.
A 12-team format with six conference champions and six at-large bids would forge a much easier path to the playoffs for Auburn football.