CLEMSON — Graham Neff is a fan of the 16-team format that is being discussed for the new College Football Playoff.

Of course, there is a debate whether it will be approved as the Big Ten Conference continues to fight the possibility of the 5+11 model in favor of its 4+4+3+1+2+2 idea. It is likely the CFP will remain as a 12-team format for 2026 unless something happens between now and the end of the year.

“It is nice having a head coach that says, ‘I will play whatever,” Clemson’s athletic director said about his conversations with head football coach Dabo Swinney.

Neff likes the job ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips has done in representing the conference, as well as working with the three other Power 4 Commissioners.

“Certainly, the 5+11 gives great access in expansion to 16 and there are pros and cons of that. I think that is really intriguing from a college football standpoint,” Neff said. “Certainly, the five respects the conference champion. That attribute is even more fleeting and compelling.

“I am certainly supportive of that model and it is also indicative, and you are seeing it with our Notre Dame partnership that we are building to be adaptable to what different models and structures look like.”

In May, Clemson and Notre Dame announced a 12-year partnership where they will play a home-and-home series starting in 2027. The series with the Irish continues the Tigers’ head-to-head matchups with Power 4 opponents, which dates back to the beginning of Swinney’s career.

“Whether that is 5-11 or other CFP formats, the value of strength of schedule, which certainly gets a lot of conversation these days, which I am incredibly supportive of, and is consistent with our scheduling model for the years in playing at least ten, whatever that was at the time, BCS, Power 5 or Power 4, and we actually scheduled beyond that with the Notre Dame series.

“In order to have adaptability around what the ACC schedule looks like, what other conference schedule looks like, what CFP format looks like, the value in the importance of what strength of schedule looks like. Our strategy is built to be optional on that, knowing that we do not control those decisions, but I am real supportive of the progress that is being made from a CFP standpoint.”