Now, 16 seems to be the sweet spot because access trumps everything else when it comes to the Playoff. Just like when CFP architects jumped from four to 12 teams during the initial expansion ...

Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin believes a College Football Playoff that includes the 16 best teams and doesn't award automatic bids would be the "best" postseason system.

College football could be moving toward a 16-team College Football Playoff bracket beginning with the 2026 season, per ESPN's Pete Thamel, who provided more information.

Below you'll find the latest projected bracket with byes and first-round matchups as well as the latest top 25. 12-team bracket First-round byes. Note: ... 16. Kansas State Wildcats (7-2) ...

So here's a look at the first 12-team CFP bracket for the 2024-25 ... which weren't guaranteed to match the bracket seeds because of conference champions and byes. ... 16. Clemson Tigers (10-3 ...