All 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame have agreed to the next College Football Playoff contract, which will begin in 2026 and bring the sport’s postseason much closer to an expected 14-team field with guarantees for conference champions, sources told ESPN on Friday.
The memorandum of understanding guarantees that the field will have at least 12 teams in 2026 and beyond, but sources indicate there is a strong preference for a 14-team field that includes the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next nine highest-ranked teams. Sources caution the exact format is not done yet, and the Big Ten and SEC will have the bulk of control over that, but others will be protected by parameters that have been put in place that can’t be altered.
The commissioners and Notre Dame agreed that the conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion would earn a playoff berth, and Notre Dame will have protections that will survive regardless of the ultimate format. With those iron-clad guarantees, the other commissioners and Notre Dame leadership surrendered the bulk of the control over the ultimate format to the SEC and Big Ten as “part of the give-and-take,” according to a source.