CFP officials discuss expanding to 14-team playoff in 2026 - ESPN

The idea of a 14-team College Football Playoff starting in the 2026 season was discussed at CFP meetings in Dallas on Wednesday, just months before the start of the first season with a 12-team playoff is set to begin.

CFP executive director Bill Hancock acknowledged the idea was discussed but declined to provide specific details, saying, «There's work still to be done.»

With CFP officials pushing to finalize a deal to consummate a television contract for the next eight years, three lingering issues remain unresolved: access, distribution of money and governance. Hancock said the issues need to be resolved within the next month.

The CFP management committee, which is made up of the commissioners and incoming Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, met Wednesday and discussed potentially expanding the field after the current contract runs out following the 2025 season.

According to ESPN sources, the most dominant discussion of a new model revolved around a 14-team playoff, and CFP leaders left Wednesday's meeting feeling there was momentum. The bump from 12 to 14 teams, as opposed to 16, would mostly address the issue of access rather than finances.

Officials will still need to discuss how a 14-team playoff would split up automatic qualifiers — for example, could the Big Ten and SEC get as many as four automatic bids? Those early discussions were had Wednesday, with no definitive conclusions.

Everything, of course, boils down to finances. And the Big Ten and SEC have made it clear the next contract will be more financially favorable than the current one, where 80 percent of the money is split evenly among the Power 5 leagues. Now there's four power conferences, and the Big Ten and SEC have a combined 34 teams.

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