CFP Field to Remain at 12 Teams for 2026

[silverscreenselect]

The CFP Committee announced today that the 2026 field would remain at 12 teams, like the last two years. The SEC and Big 10 are currently at an impasse as to how to expand. The SEC favors 16 teams with the same five automatic bids and 11 at-large selections. The Big 10 wants a 24 team field with playoffs within conferences to determine a guaranteed number of teams from each Power Four conference. Another issue would be how any expanded field would protect the exclusive Army-Navy game window, which everyone wants to keep intact.

The qualifying has been tweaked somewhat. The conference champions from the Power 4 conferences will automatically be included, as will Notre Dame if it finishes in the top 12 in the final rankings. Under that system, Notre Dame and Duke would have been in the playoff last year and Miami would have been excluded. The Group of 5 is now the Group of 6 as the former Pac 12 has added a few other teams from western conferences and reconstituted itself. The top ranking Group of 6 ateam will also get a guaranteed bid. First round games will again be played on campus, with the top four seeded teams getting a first-round bye.

[BackInTex]

Giving Norte Dame an automatic bid for 11th or 12th is ridiculous.

Also, allowing them the opportunity for a bye if they are ranked 1 through 4 as the other 4 teams in the top 5 would likely have had to play a conf. playoff meaning one of them would play two more post regular season games than Notre Dame to get to the 2nd round.

Norte Dame needs to join a conference. Full stop. This is not the 1940s, 50's, 60's, or 70's. The rules have changed. College Football has changed. If I were a conference commish for any of the power 5 conferences, I'd forbid any team from playing Notre Dame. "Let them get in the top 12 playing nothing but scrubs".

[silverscreenselect]

Norte Dame needs to join a conference. Full stop. This is not the 1940s, 50's, 60's, or 70's. The rules have changed. College Football has changed.

Notre Dame is a member of the ACC in every sport except football, and they have an agreement to play five ACC teams per season. (It's actually six in 2026) In addition, Notre Dame gets to be part of the ACC's bowl rotation, so if they finish 8-4 in a season and out of the CFP, they would play in one of the bowls that has a tie-in with the ACC. Also, in 2020, the COVID season, the ACC allowed Notre Dame to play a full conference schedule that year, otherwise, Notre Dame might not have been able to fill out its schedule.

The big stumbling block for Notre Dame to join the ACC or the Big 10, the two conferences that are most logical, is the contract with NBC. NBC (and Peacock) have exclusive rights to all Notre Dame home games, regardless of who they're playing. In exchange, Notre Dame gets a lot of money they don't have to split with the other ACC teams. If they were to join the Big 10 or ACC, they'd have to cough up a lot of that NBC money.

[BackInTex]

Norte Dame needs to join a conference. Full stop. This is not the 1940s, 50's, 60's, or 70's. The rules have changed. College Football has changed.

Notre Dame is a member of the ACC in every sport except football, and they have an agreement to play five ACC teams per season. (It's actually six in 2026) In addition, Notre Dame gets to be part of the ACC's bowl rotation, so if they finish 8-4 in a season and out of the CFP, they would play in one of the bowls that has a tie-in with the ACC. Also, in 2020, the COVID season, the ACC allowed Notre Dame to play a full conference schedule that year, otherwise, Notre Dame might not have been able to fill out its schedule.

The big stumbling block for Notre Dame to join the ACC or the Big 10, the two conferences that are most logical, is the contract with NBC. NBC (and Peacock) have exclusive rights to all Notre Dame home games, regardless of who they're playing. In exchange, Notre Dame gets a lot of money they don't have to split with the other ACC teams. If they were to join the Big 10 or ACC, they'd have to cough up a lot of that NBC money.

Every team in a conference has to share revenue with the conference. That is not a legitimate argument for ND other than "too bad for you guys! Ha ha ha!". Well, leave them out of the entire CFP and we can say "Too bad for you guys!", too.

And if every conference (maybe other than the ACC) refused to schedule games with ND, we'll see how quickly NBC "renegotiates" the contract.

Time to play hardball with Notre Dame (and yes, I intended the mixed metaphore).