As the College Football Playoff considers expansion, Rich Clark, executive director of the CFP, sent a warning about adding more teams.
CFP Director Shares Concerning Comments About Expansion
The Big Ten has been working on a super-sized potential CFP format that could at least double the current 12-team field and convert conference championship weekend into an expansive first round, according to multiple sources. pic.twitter.com/kEefC9FwTJ
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 16, 2025
This past weekend, The Athletic reported that the Big Ten is considering a “supersized” College Football Playoff with 24 or 28 teams.
The CFP currently has 12 teams. The Big Ten’s proposal would double the playoff.
Is too much of anything bad?
“I used to joke, well, next thing they’re going to say 30 [teams],” Clark said via The Athletic. “Well, we’re almost there.”
Expansion to the CFP in some capacity appears to be a matter of when, not if. Dec 1. is the deadline that the conference commissioners must agree on a new College Football Playoff format.
If commissioners cannot agree to a proposal by Dec. 1, then the 2026 season will stay with a 12-team playoff. That might not be such a bad thing, according to Clark.
“I would rather stay at this than rush to a decision that’s not good,” Clark said. “So if the decision is that we stay at the 12-team playoff until we know more, until we watch that another year, until we can discuss the other options on the table a little bit more, it’s worth sticking to the 12-team until we can come to really a solid, sound decision for the future.”
Big Ten’s Proposal For The Expanded College Football Playoff
The Big Ten is in favor of expansion.
At Big Ten Media Day, Commissioner Tony Petitti revealed that the conference is in favor of more automatic qualifiers for a 16-team playoff. Petitti wants to emphasize conference play and play-in games.
In Petitti’s 16-team proposal, the Big Ten and SEC receive four automatic qualifiers into the CFP. The ACC and Big 12 receive two each, while the highest-rated Group of 5 team gets an automatic bid. The final three spots would go to the highest-ranked teams regardless of conference.
Over the weekend, the Big Ten offered a new proposal that gives 28 teams entrance into the CFP.
In this 28-team model, the automatic bids would go to seven teams in the SEC, seven teams in the Big Ten, five teams in the ACC, five teams in the Big 12, two for the Group of 5, and two at-large bids.
The Big Ten’s proposal is still in the beginning stages. Regardless, expansion is coming in some way, shape, or form.
