Report: College football schedule may see a new shift following the College Football Playoff team expansion last season

After Ohio State won the national title in the first 12-team playoff last season, college football leaders are considering schedule changes. CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports reported on Friday that officials may start the season earlier.

With the expanded playoff field and the packed bowl schedule, the college football calendar has extended deeper into January with the new format.

The 2025 season will begin on Aug. 23, during what has traditionally been referred to as Week 0, with the majority of Division I programs slated to begin play on Aug 30, during Labor Day weekend, which is the standard start of the season.

However, with more playoff games and bowl games, the season is stretched from late August until mid-January. This longer schedule has made things harder on players and coaches, with some schools, like Texas, even canceling their spring games to avoid extra wear and tear.

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So, officials are exploring whether to make Week 0 a permanent fixture as the standard start of the season. Right now, any program wishing to play during Week 0 must file for a special NCAA waiver, as outlined in Bylaw 17.11. But many want to remove that rule.

This would move the traditional Week 1 timeline a week earlier, giving teams more scheduling flexibility, including the potential for an additional open date to ease the physical toll on players.

CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello and Yahoo Sports both confirm that college football leadership sees this change as one possible solution to the sport’s lengthened season.

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SEC commissioner not on board with the idea

Despite the growing momentum, not all decision-makers are on board. Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey remains hesitant about abandoning Labor Day weekend as the universal launch date.

"My view is we should have a consistent start date," Sankey told Yahoo Sports on Thursday. "The adage is, teams make their most substantial improvement between Games 1 and 2. I think we should have a consistent start date. Labor Day weekend has been a good start date for college football.

"The fact we are taking another look at it could be interesting. I'm not opposed to that. I want to make sure it's a broad view of the issues and not something narrow."

The Football Championship Division is expected to advance a proposal by 2026, allowing its program to play in Week 0 and add a 12th regular-season game.