College Football Playoff news: Did CFP director hint at shutting down expansion?

The College Football Playoff has become the most popular event in one of the most popular sports in America, but talk around its format and expansion has become year-round in recent years. Of course, we are two years into the 12-team format, as constant tweaks are being made each year.

Ever since the 12-team format was implemented, talks of more expansion have been frequent over the last two seasons. Some people want it to move to 16 teams, while the Big Ten has talked a lot about moving to 24 teams. However, potential expansion was delayed as nobody could come to a resolution this year, so the postseason will remain at 12 for the 2026-27 season.

The biggest criticism of CFP expansion, even where it is at 12 teams, has been the devaluing of the regular season. Now, teams that lose two or even three games in the regular season are still on the playoff bubble, whereas in the four-team format you could lose at most one game in order to have a shot at a national title.

On Wednesday, CFP director Rich Clark said expansion for the 2027-28 season was possible, but he did make an interesting comment that suggests he may be against adding more teams, via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports.

“The regular season is king,” Clark said, per Dellenger.

Clark is right. The rivalries and the week-to-week importance of college football is what makes the sport so great and so popular, and it has lost a bit of that luster now that losing games doesn’t mean as much in the 12-team era. Expanding to 16 or 24 teams would water it down even more, with four- or even five-loss teams making it into the field depending on the year.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how meetings progress. At Wednesday’s meeting, expansion talks were held and were reportedly “healthy” according to Dellenger, but no conclusion was reached. If that continues, we could be looking at a 12-team College Football Playoff for the foreseeable future.

The College Football Playoff has become the most popular event in one of the most popular sports in America, but talk around its format and expansion has become year-round in recent years. Of course, we are two years into the 12-team format, as constant tweaks are being made each year.