College Football Playoff announces playoff format through 2025 season

College Football Playoff expansion will have to wait. It will remain a four-team playoff — for now.

After a virtual Board of Managers meeting this week, the CFP committee announced it’s keeping the four-team format through the 2025 season. That means the format stays through the end of the CFP’s contract with ESPN, which ends in 2025.

Now, the focus is on deciding on a new format for 2026, according to CFP executive director Bill Hancock.

“The Board of Managers has accepted a recommendation from the Management Committee to continue the current four-team playoff for the next four years, as called for in the CFP’s original 12-year plan,” Hancock said in a statement Friday. “At the same time, the Board expects the Management Committee to continue its discussions of a new format that would go into effect for the 2026-27 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. 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.

“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.”

More on College Football Playoff expansion talks

Earlier this week, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey updated the talks of CFP expansion and where things stood. He said many voices were getting their thoughts in, and he expressed empathy with his fellow commissioners.

“Everyone’s trying to communicate their point of view,” Sankey said. “If someone walked into a CFP discussion midstream that’s difficult. Whether it’s Kevin Warren, who’s now been in his role with the Big Ten for two years, or Jim [Phillips] in the ACC, who started at this time last year, they walked into a conversation that had been taking place for two years.

“The reality from the Southeastern Conference is that we have continuing dialogue with our coaches. We don’t always agree but hey, that’s reality and we better get comfortable with some of that disagreement. I never assumed it would just be rubber-stamped. I think my disappointment is that we’re not talking through the depth of issues that have been identified so how do we arrive at solutions. How do we remedy the concern? If we can’t find the way forward now, we’re going to have a difficult time in the future.”