"I look at expanding to 16": Josh Pate makes his thoughts clear on new College Football Playoff mode

The extended College Football Playoff model has opened gates for many theories floating on social media, with experts and fans predicting more possibilities. After the inaugural 12-team model in 2024, there were speculations about its feasibility, due to the nature of a college football season. Although controversial, last year proved that it was viable.

According to insider Josh Pate, the playoff can be expanded to 16 teams, allowing more programs from other conferences to compete for the national championship.

Pate spoke to Cole Cubelic over Zoom, where they discussed the feasibility of the playoff model and how it could be more appealing to fans. Pate mentioned that he was not a fan of expansion, but with how things turned out, it could be the future of college football.

“We expanded to 12 and I was not a fan of it then, and I'm not a fan, per se, of expanding the playoff any further, but if I'm asking myself, all right, well, what do I want to accomplish?" Pate said on Tuesday (03:45), via "The Cube Show." "If this thing's going to expand, what do I want to accomplish?

"There's one thing I care about 10 miles above and beyond anything else in this sport, and that's the urgency of the regular season. My old theory was, don't do AQS no matter how big the field is, just take the best teams? Yeah, I never imagined the field would be this big. I never imagined the field would be double digit teams."

Pate also talked about the possibility of adding four teams.

"Naive of me, I know, but I never thought that would happen. And what we found is, when you get into 12, much less 14 or 16, and you've got those at large spots, we don't need to go back any further than last year to see what it does. I look at expanding to 16. I look at the five plus 11 model.”

College Football Playoff could also be a 4-4-2-2-1-1 model

This theory has been the most prominent one as of late, as experts believe four teams each from the Big Ten and SEC can earn a spot. It leaves room for two teams each from the Big 12 and ACC, and two from the Group of Five or other conferences.

While this is still a theory, the possibility of this happening can’t be ignored. This year, there won't be any conference champions that will get automatic bids or a round one bye. Instead, the rankings and spots will be decided according to the selection committee rankings.