This past week, numerous meetings were held between conference commissioners, university presidents, and university chancellors to discuss potential changes to the college football landscape.
Of the topics discussed, the college football playoff was at the front of everyone’s mind. This past season was the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, and all conferences had their gripes with the format.
Potential Changes Coming to the ACC
The format may change in 2026, so all conferences are looking for ways to ensure that they have as much representation as possible in the College Football Playoff.
Following the meeting, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told the press about some potential ideas to ensure that the conference would be represented more in the CFP.
Phillips pitched the idea of the regular-season ACC champion getting a bye during the conference championship week and having the second and third best teams play in the title game.
While the idea may seem strange, this could help the ACC secure two teams in the CFP by having, as an example, a 12-0 non-conference champion and a 10-2 conference champion.
The other idea that Phillips pitched was having the top four teams in the ACC play a tournament of sorts.
The No. 1 team and the No. 4 team would play each other in the final week of the regular season. The No. 2 team and the No. 3 would also play each other in the final week of the regular season. The winners of those two games would play in the conference championship contest.
Both ideas would produce more ratings and representation for the ACC.
Other Potential Changes to the CFP
The Power Four conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC) have all discussed ensuring they get as much representation as possible in the CFP.
The Big Ten and SEC have the most control over the CFP seeding, as they are the undisputed two best conferences. An idea pitched in the meetings was to have the SEC and Big Ten guaranteed four teams in the CFP, while the Big 12 and ACC receive two.
This idea would leave out any Group of Five conferences and make it specifically a Power Four tournament, which obviously didn’t please the Group of Five conference leaders.
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Most conferences want to continue to value the importance of winning their conference championship, but in the future, they may not be guaranteed a top-four seed and a bye.
None of these changes are confirmed, but it’s something to look at as there are going to be changes to the CFP in 2026.
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