ATLANTA — The ACC is expected to consider changing the format of its football championship as it weighs how to protect its regular-season champion before the College Football Playoff, commissioner Jim Phillips said Sunday.
One of the ideas soon to be discussed among athletic directors is changing the ACC Championship Game into a play-in game for the CFP with a matchup between the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in the conference standings. The regular-season champion would remain idle on conference championship week and be rewarded with an automatic bid into the playoff.
Such a decision, however, would likely be predicated on whether the CFP decides to adopt the much-discussed 3-3-2-2-1 format among the Power Four conferences, which would guarantee the ACC with two automatic bids every season starting in with the 2026 season.
“If we start to downgrade conference champions, then why would anyone want to play an extra game as you get ready for the playoff?” Phillips said.
The ACC faced that circumstance this season when SMU ran through the conference with an undefeated record but then lost to Clemson in the championship game. SMU was uncertain it would make the playoff, leading coach Rhett Lashlee to wonder if it would have been better for the team to have “caught COVID” and skip the ACC title game.
Phillips’ other idea is to conduct a postseason tournament with the No. 1 team facing No. 4 and No. 2 facing No. 3 on Thanksgiving weekend. The winners would play in the ACC Championship Game on its regular date. Complicating matters is the schedule, particularly for the ACC programs that play nonconference rivals on the final weekend of the season (Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville).
Phillips said he will present the ideas to coaches and athletic directors next week with deeper analysis expected at the conference’s winter meetings in February. He also expects to discuss ideas with other conference commissioners but doesn’t believe every conference needs to agree to similar formats to maintain uniformity in the new CFP model.
“I think for us to be able to share ideas about what we’re thinking, it would have to be something that made sense, but I don’t know that everybody would have to do it,” he said. “I think everybody could kind of choose what they’re doing. I don’t know that it would be that prescriptive.”
Phillips doesn’t believe eliminating conference championship games is an option, either. Conference championship games are tied to massive, multi-million dollar TV deals that are difficult to tweak when active.
Meanwhile, the future format of the CFP remains a hot topic but one that will not be fully explored until February. The CFP’s annual meeting of FBS commissioners and presidents did not result in any action Sunday at the Signia by Hilton Hotel in Atlanta, next door to the site of Monday’s CFP National Championship.
Small tweaks to the format could come as soon as next season with seeding a hot topic behind the scenes among conference leaders. More significant changes, such as expansion and more on-campus playoff games, could be discussed and adopted for 2026-27 season when a new six-year contract with ESPN begins.
“The commissioners and our athletic director from Notre Dame will look at everything across the board, and we’re going to tee them up so that they can really have a thorough look at the playoff looking back after this championship game is done – the wild success I know it’s going to be,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said. “And then look back and figure out what it is that we need to change.”
Among the pertinent issues is seeding. The four highest-ranked conference champions in the CFP Rankings are guaranteed first-round byes in the current format. This season, that led to first-round byes for No. 9 Boise State and No. 12 Arizona State, while No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State were forced to play first-round games.
“Winning a conference championship matters,” Phillips said. “Now, am I open to listening to some other ideas? Absolutely. As I sit here today, it’s a reward for a conference champion.”
Notre Dame, an independent program, is not eligible to receive a first-round bye in the current format because it does not belong to a conference. The Irish won three games in the playoff to reach the national championship game as the No. 7 seed, though they ranked No. 5 in the CFP Rankings. Athletics director Pete Bevacqua said Notre Dame is happy with the current format, but if conference championships change, then the CFP’s seeding protocol needs to be re-evaluated.
“Should they be altered in some sort of material way where it’s not the top two teams playing for a (conference) championship, but something else, then I think we absolutely have to relook at Notre Dame’s ability to get a bye if we end up being one of the top four teams,” Bevacqua siad.
The CFP’s current contract with ESPN runs through next season and guarantees a 12-team format. A new six-year contract starting in 2026 could include more significant changes, including expansion of the playoff to 14 or 16 teams, though serious discussions have not yet begun among the 11 presidents and chancellors on the CFP’s Board of Managers.
The CFP’s contract with the New Year’s Six Bowls, which help comprise the quarterfinal games, expires after next season, which could open the door for discussions on whether to move quarterfinal games to campuses starting with the 2026-27 season as well.
Tweaks to the format for the 2025-26 season would require unanimous approval among the presidents and chancellors, though starting with the 2026-27 season, voting is weighted in favor of the Big Ten and SEC.
Commissioners are expected to meet again in April. The board of managers meet May 6.
