Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte is the latest figurehead to call for an end to conference championship games. This comes after the College Football Playoff announced the dates and bowl sites for the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Championship Game in the 2026 CFP in a release on Tuesday.

The 2026 national quarterfinals will kick off on Wednesday, Dec. 30, with the Fiesta Bowl, while the Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl will be held two days later on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027. The national semifinals will then follow two weeks after that, beginning with the Orange Bowl set for Thursday, Jan. 14 and the Sugar Bowl set for Friday, Jan. 15. The 2027 CFP National Championship Game will follow 10 days later on Monday, Jan. 25, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Instead of the Playoff starting and ending later, Del Conte is calling for the Playoff to start in early Dec., in place of Conference Championship games. This would allow the Playoff to end earlier, aligning with school schedules and the Transfer Portal.

“I’m also in favor — why have a conference championship game? Let’s start the playoffs that week, right?” Del Conte said to OrangeBloods’ Anwar Richardson. “Start the playoffs that week, and let’s play every single week, and the semifinals are played on New Year’s Day, which IS college football, and the national championship a week later. That’s what I’d like to see, but I’m one vote. But this is where we need to get to.”

This past season, the Semifinals were played on Jan. 8. Next season, the Semifinals were pushed back even further to Jan. 14. This means that there will now be a 10-day gap between the Semifinals and the National Championship Game, with the season extending nearly into February.

Along with campaigning for the games to be played earlier, Del Conte stated that the committee ‘has to expand’ the Playoff. This past season, Texas was the third team out of the Playoff, behind Notre Dame and BYU.

“We’re trying to preserve an old system of bowl games,” Del Conte continued. “We’re trying to preserve this whole idea of what college football was 30 years ago, 10 years ago, four years ago. Evolution is coming, and I firmly believe that the way we do the playoff is coming.

“We have to expand that playoff. We have to have more opportunities for teams. At the same time, we’ve got to honor strength in the regular season. But if that does not happen, we are going to be forced into a position: don’t play anybody, let’s give it a go and see what happens at the end to get in the tournament.”