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The College Football Playoff is reportedly staying at 12 teams for the 2026 season, ESPN's Pete Thamel and Heather Dinich report.
"As widely expected, the College Football Playoff is staying at 12 teams for 2026. A formal announcement is set for later today, per ESPN sources," Thamel wrote on his X account Friday (January 23).
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey gave his public support of a potential 16-team model and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said he'd back the change if Sankey committed to a 24-team field after three years, which Sankey was unwilling to do at this time, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN. The potential 16-team field was reported to have had support, but ultimately the field stayed at 12 due to the monthslong stalemate between the Big Ten and SEC, who accounted for a combined eight of the 12 teams in the 2025-26 College Football Playoff, including the national champion Indiana Hoosiers.
The decision to stay with the 12-team field for another season hadn't received any pushback from College Football Playoff leaders, the sources confirmed to ESPN. The Big Ten is also reportedly interested in how the selection committee will evaluate teams during the upcoming season with both the ACC and SEC shifting to nine-game league schedules, as many expect teams with two or three losses would get more consideration with the additional conference matchups.