The expansion of the College Football Playoff is going to happen, and it's just a question of how many and when it will start. What started out as a four-team playoff back in 2014, became a 12-team playoff in 2024 and now stands to expand to 16 teams at minimum and more likely, 24.
And it's that 24-team number that much of the ACC is aligned with and consider Seminoles AD Michael Alford and coach Mike Norvell as part of that group excited about the possibility of the jump to 24.
Florida State’s Mike Norvell on an expanded playoff: “24 is a good number. It would be a very competitive field being able to have some automatic (Power 4) qualifiers - whether it's half (the field) & then some at large & Group of 6 options”
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 12, 2026
"I think when you look at the College Football Playoff, the different options, different conversations that are going on, for me — and I think for a vast majority of coaches, I think unanimous in the ACC — it's about looking at the overall season calendar," Norvell said at the ACC spring meetings.
Alford is one of the more staunch supporters of expansion and a large expansion at that.
"The more opportunities to get teams in, [it's good for the] student-athletes," Alford said. "You know I'm a traditionalist, I love the bowl games, a little concerned on the expansion of what it does to bowl games, but also understand the future of where we are going with the playoff system and college football."
FSU sits squarely in the corner of 24-team CFP expansion
It makes sense that the ACC is solidly behind expansion. It's self-preservation as much as anything and if the conference can get 2-3 automatic bids in a 24-team setup, it means there is guaranteed representation. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips knows that the conference's best chance of survival is to have as many inroads into tournament play as possible in football, men's basketball, women's basketball and every sport. Last season, the ACC was almost shut out of the playoffs and the conference champion, Duke, was never taken seriously as a potential playoff entrant. Miami got in over Notre Dame and the Hurricanes advanced to the CFP championship game, but a 12-team playoff with no ACC teams was nearly a reality.
Alford might not admit it, but I think he believes that an expanded playoff offers the best chance of a salary cap on rosters. That's a battle that he's been fighting and struggling to win because no one can enforce a cap right now and while many programs may play lip service to it, they've also shown the willingness to pay whatever it takes to have a winning product on the field.
And Norvell sees an expanding playoff as an opportunity to extend his coaching career at FSU. It's no secret that the Seminoles fanbase isn't enamored with the 44-year-old coach. They don't like the results. They don't like the recruiting. They don't like the communication he offers and as the 2023 season continues to fade in the background, Norvell is being remembered more for his failures than his two successful seasons. A 24-team playoff allows him to reset, and maybe it gives the decision makers more runway to invest in him and see the upside of giving him more resources for a better roster.
There's still a long way to go in expansion talks and the SEC is clearly against the 24-team expansion. But the winds are blowing in that direction and FSU wants to be on the side with the majority.
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