There will be no expansion of the College Football Playoff. At least for another year.

The playoff is expected to remain at 12 teams, according to multiple reports on Friday.

However, there will be a change. Auto bids will go to each Power 4 champion, regardless of ranking, and Notre Dame is guaranteed an at-large bid if ranked in the top 12 of the final CFP poll. During the first two years of the 12-team field, auto-bids went to the five highest-ranked conference champions.

The biggest roadblock to further expansion lies in the conferences’ inability to agree on what the future model will look like. The Big 10 has been pushing for a 24-team field, while other conferences, including the SEC, are only in favor of a 16-team model. The Big 10 was willing to move to the 16-team model in 2026 if there were assurances that it would expand to 24 teams in the coming years.

The CFP management committee, which is made up of 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, met earlier this week in Miami ahead of the national championship game for more than three hours, but no agreement was reached.

Friday marked an already extended deadline imposed by ESPN for expansion in the 2026 season. The original deadline was December 1.

The College Football Playoff began in 2014 as a four-team format and remained that way for a decade. The field expanded to 12 for the 2024 season.

Photo by Jerome Miron-Imagn Images