AMELIA ISLAND — The College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams in 2026. That much has been decided. But plenty of discussion has centered around scenarios with 16 and 24 teams — and the number could jump as soon as 2027.
That is among the main talking points at the ACC Spring Meetings as the college football calendar is molded and re-shaped, starting with more Week Zero games and potentially an elimination of conference championship games.
“Trying to find that ideal number,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “I personally think 24 is a good number.”
Alford said there are pros and cons to every option, mentioning 12, 16 or 24 playoff teams. Without diving into the finances behind the proposals, Alford appears to be pushing for 24, too.
“The more the merrier for me,” Alford said. “The more opportunities to get teams in, to give them an opportunity, student-athletes, I’m a traditionalist. I love the bowl games. But also understand the future of where we’re going with the playoff system and college football.”
Alford said there were varying opinions on each option as part of discussion at the ACC Spring Meetings. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has shared his preference for a 16-team playoff, while the Big Ten envisioned 24 teams in the CFP in its February proposal that also eliminated conference title games. So already there’s no consensus among the four power conferences, regardless of what the ACC proposes.
What’s next? Alford said ACC commissioner Jim Phillips will take the proposal to the other commissioners. It’s plausible Phillips will announce the preference of the athletics directors, coaches and league administrators when he speaks to the media on Wednesday to wrap up the spring meetings.
Conference title games: Going, going, gone?
But Norvell also stressed the importance of taking a long look at a college football calendar that will start earlier and is ending later and later. Indiana defeated Miami on Jan. 19 to win the 2026 title game.
“For me and I think for a vast majority of your coaches, unanimous in the ACC, it's about looking at the overall season calendar,” Norvell said. “The length of the season is extreme, we're trying to find an opportunity to be able to get our grasp on the playing season while still being able to provide great opportunity for teams to compete for a national championship.”
Conference title games began first in the SEC in 1992 and then sprouted up across the country as each league looked to gain revenue from TV deals and ticket sales in holding the neutral-site games. But now, with the prospect of doubling the number of playoff teams, the conference title games could soon be halted.
FSU, of course, won the 2023 ACC football title game. Norvell readily acknowledges that the games are special but also thinks adjustments need to be made to control the length of the football season.
“There are concessions that are made,” Norvell said. “I do think that here in these last few years, you've seen teams that have been penalized with conference championships, or the potential of being penalized with conference championships, a conference championship loss. So I do think it's something that it would be unfortunate to lose. But I do think with expanded opportunities in the playoff, I think it's one of those things that you can work through.”
Modifying the calendar
Norvell and FSU have played Week Zero games a few times, from scheduling Duquesne in 2022 as a tune-up for the LSU game in New Orleans to the matchup with Georgia Tech in Ireland in 2024 and then the game with New Mexico State game on Aug. 29. That game will allow FSU to warm up for the ACC opener against SMU inside Doak Campbell Stadium on Sept. 7.
The NCAA is allowing all FBS teams to open the season on Week Zero in 2027, so that already shifts the calendar up one week. (FSU has not announced its full non-conference schedule for 2027 aside from East Tennessee and Florida, which will be in Gainesville on Nov. 27.) It’s clear that college football programs and television networks want to start earlier and grab an extra Saturday slate of games before the NFL regular season begins.
That early start could help what Norvell thinks should be a goal, in part of making the schedule more manageable and also finishing earlier in January so the focus can shift on player decisions, the transfer portal and building a roster for the next season.
“It's being able to get it to try to keep it as much into your semester as possible,” Norvell said. “And when you look at the transfers, the start of a new academic semester, what that means for guys, NFL and guys that have life decisions that are being made. You might be looking at the second week in January or that second Monday, however that all plays out.”
Norvell said there were some “preliminary conversations” about moving the early December three-day signing window (it was Dec. 3-5 in 2025). But he also felt it wasn’t a big topic during the ACC coaches’ discussions.
One option Norvell suggested for high school prospects is to have “rolling signing days” and start the window earlier to give prospects the ability to lock in their decisions sooner. In the short term, high school prospects will have the option of signing in early December or February.
But in the long term?
“I think the recruiting schedule is going to look different in three years,” Alford said.
