College football will not make a big change when it comes to the playoffs. On Friday, College Football Playoff (CFP) executive director Bill Hancock announced the current playoff format will remain the same through the end of its current contract. This means that the CFP will remain at four teams through the 2025 season.
“Even though the outcome did not lead to a recommendation for an early expansion before the end of the current 12-year contract, the discussions have been helpful and informative,” Hancock said in a statement. “I am sure they will serve as a useful guide for the Board of Managers and for the Management Committee as we determine what the Playoff will look like beginning in the 2026-2027 season.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“I thank the working group for its hard work that resulted in the 12-team proposal, and the Management Committee for its thorough and diligent job reviewing it and other possible expansion ideas. This has been a long, careful, and detailed process that involved many people considering a complex matter. I am grateful to everyone for their dedication to college football and the detailed and deliberative effort everyone put into the consideration of a different format. I know the four-team event will continue to be successful.”
According to ESPN, the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame have forfeited roughly $450 million in potential revenue. On Wednesday afternoon, the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick held a videoconference in which they determined they could not come to a unanimous agreement on the proposed 12-team format which was made public this past summer.
“I understand this is complex, and I recognize the conferences’ positions,” Hancock told ESPN in a brief phone interview from China, where he is volunteering for the Winter Olympics. “I’ve been around long enough to know that setbacks are sometimes temporary.”
Despite not having an expanded playoff field in the near future, Hancock says it’s possible it could happen down the road. “I know because I’ve heard the management committee and the board talk about it that they would all like to see the CFP expand, but for Years 11 and 12 there were just several things that stood in the way,” he said. “Not just one thing, but several.”
