The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to capture the first national championship in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. 

However, college football could be headed for another change to its playoff format that features multiple automatic qualifiers in the Big Ten and SEC that would greatly impact the USC Trojans, according to Yahoo Sports‘ Ross Dellenger.

The Big Ten and SEC are building momentum to expand the playoff to 14 or 16 teams starting in 2026, the first year of the new six-year television agreement with ESPN. The new model would give at least four automatic bids to each of the two power conferences in the sport give, two each for the ACC and Big 12, one to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion and one or three at-large spots. If it is only one at-large spot, it would be given to Notre Dame if they are ranked inside the top 14. 

This has been an ongoing discussion since last spring that could be decided in the coming weeks with CFP Management Committee is scheduled to meet in Dallas on Feb. 25. 

“In the end, executives of the 10 FBS leagues and Notre Dame signed a memorandum of understanding handing control over to college football’s two richest conferences,” Dellenger wrote.

A new playoff format would mean the SEC would inevitably go from eight to nine conference games, something every other conference in the FBS does. The Big Ten and SEC will also reportedly enter a separate scheduling agreement that would bring more marquee matchups in the fall. 

Conference realignment in 2024 gave us new rivalries in the Big Ten and SEC like USC vs. Michigan, Oregon vs. Ohio State and Georgia vs. Texas. The new agreement will provide new intriguing matchups that will capture the attention of college football fans across the country. Instead of waiting for playoff to see games like Ohio State vs. Texas, USC vs. Georgia or Penn State vs. Alabama, those will take place more frequently in the regular season. 

The non-conference games won’t affect the playoff format in terms of how many schools from those two conferences get in because the number of spots is already predetermined. The seeding will be determined by conference records. 

An expanded playoff and new scheduling agreement would also bring additional revenue from ESPN to every school in the two conferences. 

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A new format could also bring a massive change to championship weekend for the Big Ten and SEC, according to 247Sports Josh Pate. 

“I think they’ll take two of their guaranteed spots and I think they will give those seats to No. 1 and No. 2 teams in conference standings at the end of the year,” Pate said. “At which point the Big Ten and the SEC have two more guaranteed seats at the table. What I think you’ll get is two play-in games, a three versus six, a four versus five from each conference. That’s the way I would structure it if I were them. 

“And so what that does is gives you is not one but two games on what used to be called Conference Championship Saturday and the winners of those games take up the other two spots of your four guaranteed spots in the playoff.”

The ACC and Big 12 are adamantly against the proposed format, and the Group of Five conferences going to push back as well. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips spoke out against the Big Ten and SEC occupying at least eight teams of the spots of a 14 or 16 playoff. 

“There needs to be fairness and access to the championship,” Phillips told Yahoo Sports. “It needs to be a true championship, not artificial and not an invitational.”

The reality of the College Football Playoff in its decade of existence is the Big Ten and SEC have dominated the sport during that time, outside of an impressive stretch from Clemson in the mid to late 2010s. The Tigers reached the national championship in 2015 and then won it in 2016 and 2018. A school from the two power conferences has won it every other year, however.

In fact, Notre Dame was only the third school not from the Big Ten or SEC to even make the national championship game since the inception of the playoff. In an extended playoff this past season, the Irish were the only non-Big Ten or SEC team that made it to the semifinals. 

USC has yet to make the College Football Playoff since its inaugural season in 2014. The closest the Trojans came was in 2022 when they were ranked No. 4 in the country heading into championship weekend. They squared off against Utah in Las Vegas and jumped out to a two-touchdown lead in the second quarter. 

However, a hamstring injury severely hampered Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Caleb Williams and their defensive woes under Alex Grinch continued to haunt them as the Utes went on a 44-7 run over the final two and half quarters to claim the Pac-12 championship. 

As the Trojans head into a new era in their second season as members of the Big Ten, a much-improved front office and momentum in recruiting, a new format could help bring USC back to national prominence.