The College Football Playoff may look radically different in 2026/2027 and beyond. It may not, though. The SEC and Big Ten hold all the cards. On January 18, a decision to expand the CFP will be decided upon in Miami.
ESPN's Heather Dinich reports that a 16-team CFP and a 24-team CFP is on the table, and it's on the Big Ten and the SEC to decide whether or not there's enough representatives from their conferences for the deal to be palatable.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Big 12, the ACC, and every Group of Six conference await the supposed "Power 2" to decide the sport's fate. January 23 is the official deadline for a decision on CFB's process of determining its champion.
"In November, the deadline for completing the format and related structural decisions moved from Dec. 1 to Jan. 23, 2026. CFP leaders -- including all 10 FBS commissioners, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, and the 11 presidents and chancellors who comprise the organization's Board of Managers -- will meet on Jan. 18 in Miami, the day before the national championship game, for their annual review of the season," Dinich wrote.
"They are expected to discuss two models: a 16-team field that includes five conference champions and 11 at-large teams, and another format with 24 teams. Petitti and Sankey have the bulk of control over the playoff's format in 2026 and beyond, an agreement the other commissioners and Bevacqua signed off on in 2024 during the last contract negotiations with ESPN. If the Big Ten and SEC leaders can't come to an agreement by the deadline, the playoff will remain at 12 teams. The field will now guarantee the Power 4 conference champions spots, along with the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of 6, which now includes the revamped Pac-12."
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Big Ten has no reason to collude with SEC anymore
At this point, Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti has no reason to not leverage SEC commissioner Greg Sankey for more B1G bids in future seasons. The SEC has had more teams make the field since it expanded to 12, and even before that, but they are no longer producing champions.
The Big Ten has the true powerhouses in the rev-share/NIL era, be it built by spending, like the 2024/2025 Ohio State Buckeyes, or the cybersecurity skills of the 2025/2026 Indiana Hoosiers. Just kidding on the latter, though there are some strange rumors, if not substantial proof, about why IU has a penchant for pick-sixes on the first plays of games.
Either way, Sankey may have to temper his bravado a bit and do what benefits the SEC, even if it equally benefits the B1G, if not even favors the Big Ten, when all of College Football's most important people get in a room in South Florida next Sunday.