The 2025 season will be the second year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. But after that, the playoff picture remains uncertain. Discussions of an even more expanded playoff have dominated talks between conferences this offseason, but nothing has been agreed upon yet. As it stands, nothing is in place for the 2026-27 season and beyond.
The SEC and Big 12 prefer a 16-team field through the "5+11" model," which guarantees that the five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic CFP bids. Thus, 11 bids are left for at-large teams. On the other hand, on top of wanting the SEC to move to nine conference games during the regular season, the Big Ten wants to pursue other models of playoff expansion.