ESPN Is Reportedly Pushing For More College Football Playoff Changes
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It took forever for the College Football Playoff to start, and then, before you knew it, the postseason had quickly expanded.
The College Football Playoff started with four teams. A couple of years later, it grew to 12 teams. Now, there's an even bigger push for more.
The College Football Playoff could soon expand to 16 teams, or maybe even 20 or 24 teams. ESPN is reportedly helping push for change, according to Yahoo! Sports' college football insider, Ross Dellenger.
It sounds like ESPN wants to make things bigger.
Dellenger reports that ESPN is "socially" pushing change with the leaders of the College Football Playoff.
"CFP executives are scheduled to meet virtually on Monday to further explore expansion, as previously reported. Leaders continue to focus on 16 & 24-team models, with growing momentum for a larger field. No decision is expected and the debate is likely to continue into the Fall," he reported.
"ESPN – the rights-holder of the playoff – is socializing with CFP leaders a 16-team format with four play-in games for the final four spots into the field (seeds 13-16). There is an expectation that it will be discussed during today’s meeting."
ESPN – the rights-holder of the playoff – is socializing with CFP leaders a 16-team format with four play-in games for the final four spots into the field (seeds 13-16). There is an expectation that it will be discussed during today’s meeting. https://t.co/QXBUJRY8PL
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 10, 2026
College football fans react to ESPN's push
It comes as no surprise.
"It serves ESPN. But does this concept serve SEC better than 24 team playoffs?" one fan wrote.
"Yep. I was right. It’s clearly an ESPN idea. They don’t wanna lose control of the CFP. No issues with that. If I had exclusivity, I wouldn’t wanna just give it away either. It’s a reasonable compromise between 16 and 24," one fan added.
"College football is continuing its course to be cooked," one fan added.
"If Conference Championships games are truly going away, all the funnier that we got an outright one before Miami," one fan added.
"What this should illustrate is 16 is dead in the water. So, ESPN, who doesn't want to open the games to be broadcasted on other networks, is manufacturing a horrible compromise to still have full control but allow more access than 16 by doing a horrible play-in game," one fan added.
What do you make of the proposed changes?
This story was originally published by The Spun on Aug 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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