CLEMSON — Conference commissioners decided to go back to the drawing board and start the process over in terms of locking down a new College Football Playoff format for the 2026 season.

News broke late Tuesday night, as commissioners from the Power 4 conferences decided they needed to further discuss what the new format would look like, meaning there is a chance that no decision will be made by the Dec. 1 deadline. If this happens, the CFP will default to the 12-team format for a third season.

The 2025 season is expected to be the last year the CFP uses the 12-team playoff. The NCAA’s 32 Division I conference commissioners are in Asheville, N.C., this week discussing the CFP and more at their annual summer meetings.

What happened with the CFP?

Supposedly there is division from the SEC and Big Ten, which at one time appeared to be in line to pass a 4 (SEC)+4 (Big 10)+2 (ACC)+2 (Big 12)+1 (P6 qualifier)+3 (at-large bids) model as part of a 16-team playoff format. But according to Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, sources told him the SEC is now supporting a five automatic qualifier model with 11 at-large bids.

Why has the SEC changed direction?

“The SEC wants more value given to strength-of-schedule metrics, something CFP executives discussed in today’s meetings,” McMurphy wrote. “However, a source cautioned, even if strength of schedule is supposed to carry more weight w/committee, it still boils down to their opinions on who they think are the best teams.”

In other words, there will be more discussions taking place.

The ACC and Big 12 brought up the 5+11 model and recommended the format during a meeting last month. This came after the commissioners agreed to change the seeding of the current 12-team playoff, as the top four seeds, according to the CFP rankings, will receive a first-round bye.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips was not in favor of re-seeding, but he agreed to the change by sighting it was in the best interest of college football.

The Big Ten is pushing back on the 5+11 model, unless the SEC agrees to move to a nine-game conference schedule, which the SEC was hoping to be passed before the start of the 2025 regular season. However, coaches within the conference are not in favor of that move at the moment.

There was talk about going to a nine-game conference schedule in the ACC, as well, at last month’s spring meetings, but there were not any formal discussions on the matter.

Clemson is not waiting around to see what the SEC, ACC or anyone else is going to do when it comes to playing the best of the best in college football.

“This has been a Coach [Dabo] Swinney’s mantra since he was a young coach and was trying to build Clemson up from a national brand standpoint,” Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said on the Gramlich & Mac Lain Podcast recently . “You got to play the big dogs… and you have to win those games, too. So, we have been really consistent in playing 10 of the 12 games against Power 5 (4) opponents.”

Since 2011, Clemson has played either Auburn, Georgia, Texas A&M and Notre Dame, as well as South Carolina, every year, making Clemson one of a handful of teams that plays 10 Power 4 opponents every year.

Starting in 2027, Clemson will begin a 12-year home-and-home series with Notre Dame, continuing its theme of playing as strong of a non-conference schedule as possible.

“It just gives us a lot of options,” Swinney told The Clemson Insider at the ACC Spring Meetings last month. “Because there are a lot of changes that will probably come about, as we know in this business, between now and ’28 or ’29. The SEC may go to nine games, so there’s a lot of things.

“It is a win-win for everyone. It is a win for Notre Dame, it is a win for Clemson, and it is a win for the fans.”

As for Clemson’s other future non-conference games with Power 4 opponents, the verdict is still out on whether those matchups will occur or not. Right now, the Tigers are still scheduled to play Georgia in 2029, ’30, ’32 and ’33, while they are also scheduled to still play Oklahoma in 2035 and ’36.