Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney isn’t necessarily mad that conference championship games are going away. But it does make him a little sad.

On Nov. 9, the College Football Playoff reached a five-year, $1.7 billion deal with ESPN to expand the playoff field to 24 teams beginning with the 2027 season, a seismic shift that officially eliminates conference championship games.

During his press conference Tuesday, Swinney expressed sadness over bidding farewell to conference title games.

“I wouldn’t say it bothers me, but I’m not a fan of that,” Swinney said. “I love the conference championship games. I think it’s been great.”

“It doesn’t bother me. I’d just say it kind of saddens me a little bit, I guess, because that’s going away,” Swinney added. “But hey, something new is coming. You just embrace it and you go attack whatever’s coming. But I hate to see that.”

Swinney — who holds a 9-1 record in ACC title games at Clemson and played in the very first SEC Championship Game with Alabama in 1992 — says he genuinely hates to see conference title games go because it has always been a “special” thing to be a part of.

Clemson’s longtime head man hates that coaches, players and fans will no longer get to experience them in the future.

“I’ve been in 10 ACC Championship Games. 10. And man, those are special moments,” Swinney said. “Those are special moments and memories, and I hate for future coaches and kids to not get the opportunity – and fans – to kind of experience that.”

Eliminating conference championship games takes care of a scheduling issue, as keeping the title games alongside a 24-team bracket would have forced student-athletes to potentially play an 18-game season.

“I think 24 [teams in the College Football Playoff] is too many, but I didn’t get a vote,” Swinney added. “I would have liked to have seen championship games stay. They didn’t ask me.”

Conference championship week will essentially be replaced by an bye/off week for playoff teams and a new clearout date for Army-Navy.

Each of the Power Four conferences, including the ACC, have acknowledged the major transition, confirming that their December 2026 title games will be the final editions in their respective histories.