Any changes to the 2025 College Football Playoff won’t be announced until later this year

ATLANTA — Any adjustments to the College Football Playoff for next season, including a potential adjustment to how they are awarded, will have to happen later this year, possibly in the spring, playoff officials said.

Conference commissioners and presidents of playoff schools met ahead of the Ohio State-Notre Dame title game to discuss issues surrounding this season’s start to the 12-team playoff and how to navigate the next TV deal, which begins in 2026.

What didn’t come up was the 2025 season, in which any changes would have received unanimous approval from the commissioners.

Most likely in the “tweaks” category would be changes to the way teams are set up. This year, the top four conference championships were guaranteed, allowing Arizona State (Big 12) and Boise State (Mountain West) to leapfrog several teams ranked ahead of them.

Both lost their first games in the playoffs.

“We’re going to let the board of directors and our CFP staff start these conversations,” said Mark Keenum, the Mississippi State president who chairs the CFP Board of Managers. “But we didn’t engage in any dialogue in the room about what-ifs. There was no such discussion.”

The CFP could likely implement a change in how the tournament is handled in less than a year. Other changes that could come into play when the six-year, $7.8 billion contract takes effect in 2026 would be more complex.

One of the most discussed would be expanding the field from 12 to 14 teams, as well as redistributing the number of automatic bids. Currently, the top five conferences get one each. Because of their size and wealth, the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences are expected to have a bigger say in what comes next.

Tied into those decisions could be the future of conference title games, which look increasingly like an anachronism now that more teams from each conference have a shot at the tournament.

That, then, could reopen the discussion about Notre Dame’s role in the playoffs. Under the terms of the next contract, the nation’s largest independent will receive $12 million for part of the system. But if nothing in the format changes, Notre Dame could not get a first-round bye because it doesn’t have a conference to win.

“Should (the title game) be altered in any material way, then I think we absolutely have to look at Notre Dame’s ability to get a bye if we finish as one of the top four teams,” Fighting Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua said.