College Football Playoff to remain at four teams through 2025 season

Georgia will defend its national championship with a playoff format that will remain the same.

The College Football Playoff will stay at four teams until the current contract expires in 2026, executive director Bill Hancock announced Friday.

Despite a proposal to expand the playoff to 12 teams, the CFP Board of Managers recommended the playoff remain at four teams for the duration of the 12-year contract.

“The Board of Managers has accepted a recommendation from the Management Committee to continue the current four-team playoff for the next four years, as called for in the CFP’s original 12-year plan,” Hancock said in a statement. “At the same time, the Board expects the Management Committee to continue its discussions of a new format that would go into effect for the 2026-27 season.

“Even though the outcome did not lead to a recommendation for an early expansion before the end of the current 12-year contract, the discussions have been helpful and informative. I am sure they will serve as a useful guide for the Board of Managers and for the Management Committee as we determine what the Playoff will look like beginning in the 2026-2027 season.

“I thank the working group for its hard work that resulted in the 12-team proposal, and the Management Committee for its thorough and diligent job reviewing it and other possible expansion ideas. This has been a long, careful, and detailed process that involved many people considering a complex matter. I am grateful to everyone for their dedication to college football and the detailed and deliberative effort everyone put into the consideration of a different format. I know the four-team event will continue to be successful.”

Georgia won the College Football Playoff national championship for the 2021 season with a victory over Alabama in Indianapolis.

Next season’s title game will be played Jan. 9 in Los Angeles. The following year will be played Jan. 8, 2024 in Houston. The sites of the final two title games under the current contract have not been announced.