ACC backs 24-team College Football Playoff

Jim Phillips said on May 13 that ACC coaches and athletic directors want the College Football Playoff expanded to 24 teams, giving the league an official position in the sport’s latest postseason fight. Phillips spoke at the close of the conference’s spring meetings in Amelia Island, Florida, after three days of sessions with football coaches, athletics directors and other administrators. His comments put the ACC alongside the Big Ten and Big 12 in backing a larger field. The playoff will remain at 12 teams for the 2026-27 season under a January decision by the CFP Management Committee. ### What exactly did the ACC endorse in Amelia Island? Phillips said Wednesday that the ACC’s internal discussions produced support for doubling the current field from 12 teams to 24. “The desire with the coaches and the ADs is to go to 24,” he said at the end of the meetings. The ACC had not previously taken as public and direct a stance on the size of the next playoff model. By stating a preferred number, Phillips moved the conference into the same camp as the Big Ten and Big 12 as discussions shift beyond the 2026 season. ### Why did Phillips say the current number is too small? Phillips said the league’s argument starts with teams being left out. “When you’re leaving national championship-contending teams and schools out of the playoff, you don’t have the right number,” he said. Florida State’s exclusion from the four-team field in 2023 was one example Phillips cited. He also said Notre Dame was worthy of a place in last season’s 12-team format but did not make the field. Phillips tied the case for expansion to the money schools are spending on football and the need, in his words, for presidents, chancellors and boards to see a path into the playoff. ### Which conferences are on each side now? The Big Ten and Big 12 support a 24-team format, and Phillips’ comments added the ACC to that group. CBS Sports reported that alignment leaves the SEC as the main conference still pushing a different model. Greg Sankey’s SEC has favored a 16-team playoff with a stronger emphasis on at-large bids, while Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has backed 24 teams. Fox Sports reported that the Big Ten and SEC still hold the decisive power over future CFP changes even as other leagues line up behind one option. ### Why is 2026 not changing even with this new push? The CFP Management Committee announced on January 23 that the 2026-27 season will continue under the current 12-team format. The committee said the extension would allow more time to evaluate the structure and consider future changes. That means the next season’s first-round games will still be played on campus sites, followed by bowl-hosted quarterfinals and semifinals, with the national championship set for January 25, 2027, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Any move to 24 teams would come later than that season. ### What other obstacles did ACC officials identify? Phillips said ESPN, the CFP’s television partner, has indicated it would prefer the playoff stay at 12 teams, or at most 16. That adds a media-rights complication to a debate already shaped by conference politics. Dave Doeren, North Carolina State’s coach, argued in Amelia Island that a larger bracket would broaden access. “Access for teams is a good thing,” Doeren said, adding that a 24-team field would have put NC State in the playoff three times during his tenure. Boo Corrigan, NC State’s athletics director, said hosting a playoff game in Raleigh would be a major event for a campus and fan base. ### What happens next in the playoff debate? The next phase belongs to the commissioners and presidents who control the CFP format beyond 2026. Phillips has now put the ACC on record, but any expansion still requires agreement among the sport’s power brokers, especially the Big Ten and SEC. January 25, 2027, is the next fixed date on the CFP calendar, when the championship game will be played in Las Vegas under the existing 12-team structure. Before any later season changes are adopted, conference leaders and the CFP Management Committee will have to settle the size of the field, the bid structure and the calendar.