Projecting the College Football Playoff field if Big Ten-SEC plan comes to fruition

The party is just getting started! While last season's 12-team College Football Playoff served its purpose of getting more teams into the dance, we may not be done with expansion just yet. The latest rumors hint at the Big Ten and SEC clamoring for a 14-to-16-team playoff with as many as four automatic qualifier spots reserved for each league. Oh, the ACC and Big 12 will get two teams in, too.

After doing my best to read through all the jargonese, I have come to this conclusion. If we do get more playoff expansion, it needs to go to 16 teams and stop. Truth be told, the AQ spots reserved for the Power Four were always going to be filled by teams in each of those leagues. We know how the College Football Playoff Selection Committee goes about putting together its rankings every week.

Assuming a 4-4-2-2-1+3 format in a 16-team College Football Playoff, here is who could make it in.

• Big Ten (4): Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Illinois
• SEC (4): Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina
• ACC (2): Clemson, Louisville
• Big 12 (2): Iowa State, Arizona State
• Group of Five (1): Miami (OH)
• At-Large (3): Notre Dame, LSU, Alabama

Here is how I would seed those 16 teams. I have a hard time believing we will reseed it like did in 2024.

1. Penn State Nittany Lions (Projected Big Ten champion)
2. Texas Longhorns (Projected SEC champion)
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (Projected Big Ten AQ No. 2)
4. Clemson Tigers (Projected ACC champion)
5. Georgia Bulldogs (Projected SEC AQ No. 2)
6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Projected national independent at-large)
7. Oregon Ducks (Projected Big Ten AQ No. 3)
8. Tennessee Volunteers (Projected SEC AQ No. 3)
9. Iowa State Cyclones (Projected Big 12 champion)
10. South Carolina Gamecocks (Projected SEC AQ No. 4)
11. Arizona State Sun Devils (Projected Big 12 AQ No. 2)
12. Illinois Fighting Illini (Projected Big Ten AQ No. 4)
13. Louisville Cardinals (Projected ACC AQ No. 2)
14. LSU Tigers (Projected SEC at-large)
15. Alabama Crimson Tide (Projected SEC at-large)
16. Miami RedHawks (Projected MAC/Group of Five champion)

There would be no first-round byes in a 16-team format, so here would be your first-round matchups.

• No. 16 Miami RedHawks at No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions
• No. 15 Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 2 Texas Longhorns
• No. 14 LSU Tigers at No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes
• No. 13 Louisville Cardinals at No. 4 Clemson Tigers
• No. 12 Illinois Fighting Illini at No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs
• No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils at No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks at No. 7 Oregon Ducks
• No. 9 Iowa State Cyclones at No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers

And then we would move forward with it looking like a quadrant of a March Madness bracket, folks!

What a 16-team College Football Playoff field could look like for 2025-26

Basically, what I did was expanded upon my initial way-too-early College Football Playoff bracket by adding essentially four more teams. I already had Penn State, Texas, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Tennessee, Iowa State, South Carolina, Arizona State and Miami (OH) making the field. My new inclusions were Illinois, Louisville, LSU and Alabama to get us to 16 playoff teams.

While I am reticent to think the Big Ten will get four teams in again next year, I like Illinois' upside a bit more than say Michigan's or Indiana's. That gets me to four Big Ten teams. Since I have Louisville projected to lose to Clemson in the ACC Championship, the Cardinals get the second ACC AQ spot. As for LSU and Alabama, those teams offer a lot of variance in the SEC and could be great this year.

If I were to have swapped out Alabama as the so-called last team in, I may have gone with Michigan or potentially even the Miami Hurricanes; I am not sure. Regardless, I think it is imperative to have three at-large bids beyond the 13 AQ spots divvied out to the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Group of Five. We need more variance than essentially having the so-called at-large berth reserved for Notre Dame.

As long as we get multiple broadcasting partners, I could live with this future expansion proposal.