After a long period of back-and-forths, speculation and numerous formal proposals suggesting potential changes, the College Football Playoff officially will stay at four teams through at least the 2025-26 season.
On Friday morning, the CFP formally announced that the event will remain in its current format through the remainder of the existing contract, which was originally signed as a 12-year deal.
“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,” CFP executive director Bill 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.”
Friday’s announcement ends a long saga that saw a variety of proposals brought forth concerning the future of the CFP.
Some wanted the field to expand to eight teams and some wanted 12. Meanwhile, there were disagreements about whether there should be automatic bids for conference champions, whether they be from Power Five (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) or Group of Five (AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt) conferences.
In recent months, however, momentum started shifting toward making no immediate change at all, and that was sealed with Friday’s announcement.
The announcement comes after a major round of conference realignment in 2021, of which all of the changes should be in place by the time the current CFP contract expires.