It appears that change could again be on the horizon for college football’s postseason, after the American Football Coaches Association annual meeting voted to ‘recommend that college leaders implement a playoff with the maximum number of participants, discontinue conference championship games, preserve the Army-Navy game’s exclusive time window but hold other games on that day, and end the playoff by the second week of January’.

Should the proposal, as first reported by Yahoo Sports, be taken forward, it could mean that the College Football Playoff expands from the 12-team model that was adopted in 2024 to a format that will offer as many as 24 teams an opportunity for postseason tournament play. According to Yahoo, ‘the most-discussed 24-team model is an all at-large field determined through the CFP rankings, with an automatic spot for the Group of Six leagues. The format adds one playoff round and 12 additional games. The top eight ranked teams would receive a first-round bye while seeds nine to 24 play in the first round on campus’.

The shape of the college postseason had already been discussed by conference leaders when they met prior to AFCA’s annual meeting to explore whether the current format should be expanded to a 16- or 24-team field. The commissioners have not always seen eye to eye on what is the best path forward, with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey preferring the 16-team model whereas Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti has shown his favour for a 24-team field. Fellow commissioners, including the ACC’s Jim Phillips, the Big 12’s Brett Yormark and Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua, who were all previously in favour of the 16-team model have recently shifted their support to the 24-team model, leaving only the SEC in favour of a 16-team Playoff.

Along with the deliberation on the structure of the Playoff, the potential abolition of conference championship games was discussed to make space in the calendar to accommodate a larger knockout structure. The main concern for athletic directors here is the loss of revenue, potentially up to $250m, if the championship tilts were to disappear. The financial valuation of a 24-team Playoff is currently being assessed by media consultants, with estimates ranging from $300-700m, per Yahoo.

Along with the recommendation to remove conference championship games, there was also the suggestion to reduce the number of bye weeks from two to one. Therefore, if the postseason were to begin immediately after the culmination of the regular season, then the National Championship Game could return to its previous position on the second Monday in January as opposed to being in the third week of the month and competing with the NFL for attention.

Speaking to NBC Sports, Oregon coach Dan Lanning voiced his support for ending the season earlier by stating that ‘ideally, the season ends January 1st. [That] should be the last game. [That] should be the championship game. Then the portal opens, and then coaches that have to move on to their next opportunities get the opportunity to move to their next opportunities…’.

A further hurdle to making this all fit is the historic Army-Navy game that takes place as a standalone event on the second Saturday in December and would clash with the proposed expanded Playoff timetabling — and go against President Trump’s executive order that the four-hour window that hosts the armed forces game be preserved. Officials from the two academies are exploring potentially moving the game, although this could present a logistical nightmare.

However the ever-evolving face of college football changes over the upcoming months, an agreement of some sort is anticipated by the time the conference commissioners meet again in mid-June.