College Football Playoff expansion to 24 teams gains momentum as coaches back major overhaul

One Big Ten model suggests one automatic qualifier -- the highest-ranked Group of Six champion -- and 23 at-large selections determined by the selection committee's CFP rankings. Theoretically, this format would reward the Big Ten and SEC, given the strength-of-schedule advantages they have over the other Power Four leagues.

The AFCA is the primary professional organization for football coaches at all levels, boasting over 10,000 members worldwide and representing coaches from the NFL, NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, and high school levels.

'Maximum' playoff expansion and the eradication of conference championships

If the playoff expands to 24, that would create another round of postseason action and 12 more games, nixing conference championship weekend. The top eight seeds, instead of the current top four, would get an opening-round bye, with the remaining 16 teams playing their first-round contests on the higher seed's campus.

Conference championships, however, are extremely lucrative. Erasing those games in favor of an earlier start to the expanded playoff would have to make financial sense for those involved behind the scenes. The 12-team format will continue through at least the 2026 season, but expansion talks are ongoing and now intensified given the AFCA's recommendations.

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire, New Mexico's Jason Eck, San Diego State's Sean Lewis, Montana State's Brent Vigen, Michigan State's Pat Fitzgerald and Old Dominion's Ricky Rahne were recently named to the AFCA's Board of Trustees. Returning members of the AFCA's board include 2026 president Clark Lea (Vanderbilt) and Bret Bielema (Illinois).

"I just don't know where that line of demarcation is. … I do feel like we're going to make some of our (regular season) games maybe less meaningful, less impactful, but they'll still matter in the grand scheme of things, especially toward the end of the season," Georgia's Kirby Smart told Josh Pate in a recent interview. "I'm a fan of 16 to 24 because of the currency and what we're measured by as coaches. I want to get my team in there for the opportunity. I want my fan base to be engaged. And it's gotten to the point now that if you're not in (the CFP), there's no value in a good old bowl game. … So if we're going to make it that way, we might as well put more (teams) in it and get everybody in and let them go play."

The Army-Navy situation

To avoid potential CFP-scheduling chaos with one of the college football's most-watched matchups of the season, Army-Navy could move off of its historical second Saturday of December slot one week ahead to accommodate. If conference championship games are no more, that would give Army-Navy its own time slot as long as the 24-team CFP begins the following weekend in December.

Army coach Jeff Monken told Yahoo Sports he has suggested playing Navy during Thanksgiving weekend. The Army vs. Navy Game has been played annually since 1930 and remains one of college football's most consistent standalone events. CBS Sports holds the broadcast rights through 2038.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this year aimed at preserving the long-standing rivalry's exclusive national broadcast window.

Calendar problem

The NCAA's decision earlier this year to move to a single spring transfer portal window in January was intendedto deter post-spring tampering and is viewed by most as a minor fix to a litany of calendar issues across the sport. There's also the headache of the coaching carousel and early signing period, both of which arrive and conflict with the post-conference championship weekend.

Currently, college football coaching changes, coaching hirings and the always hectic transfer portal window all exist in the same few weeks.

Several programs in the CFP dealt with coaching staff changes while preparing for games last season, including Ole Miss after the Rebels lost coach Lane Kiffin and several staff members to LSU. Oregon's Dan Lanning saw both of his coordinators take head-coaching jobs at California and Kentucky. With the Ducks deep in the College Football Playoff, both coordinators had one foot out the door while trying to work two jobs.

Next season's national championship game won't be played until Jan. 25, 2027 -- 10 days after the participants last played in the semifinals.

College football also faces head-to-head competition for exposure with the NFL's postseason during that time, not to mention coaches finalizing transfer classes and roster additions before the drop-add period ends at their respective universities for the spring semester.

"Ideally, the season ends January 1st," Lanning told NBC Sports. "(That) should be the last game. (That) should be the championship game. Then the portal opens, and then coaches that have to move on to their next opportunities get the opportunity to move to their next opportunities. …

"Our national championship game this year is January 19th, and that's really hard to envision as a coach that's going out and trying to join a new program and start a staff. It's hard for players to understand what continuity looks like and where they are going to be at and to manage that with visits, the portal, everything else that exists."

Indiana's Curt Cignetti sounded off on his team's long break between games last season, prior to playing Alabama in the Rose Bowl. The Hoosiers beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship before their next steps on the field came a couple of weeks later against the Crimson Tide.

"Well, you know, it is what it is, so you make the most of it," Cignetti said. "The way we approached it until we knew the opponent? We treated it like two bye weeks, and now we have almost two weeks to prepare for the opponent."

Coaches aren't just frustrated, they're exhausted. They will tell you privately: the margin for burnout has never been thinner. And for teams still alive in the postseason, balance simply doesn't exist. Staffs are splitting time between game-planning for elite opponents and re-recruiting their own roster -- a reality that would've been unthinkable a decade ago.

Everyone wanted expansion. More access, more meaningful games, more revenue. But the trade-off is becoming clear. The calendar is overcrowded, unforgiving and, in many ways, unsustainable in the long term.