To ensure the CFP concludes by the second Monday in January, the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) officially proposed four primary calendar changes. Among them, the most significant one is the elimination of the conference championship game. While many FBS coaches are part of the AFCA board and voted for this decision, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has emerged as a vocal opponent of the new proposal.
“I hate to see the championship games go away, but I also get it,” said Swinney during his Tuesday appearance on the Always College Football podcast with Greg McElroy. “I played in the first-ever championship game, the ’92 SEC championship game. So I hate to see that go away. I think it’s just awesome to be a part of that.”
“A lot of people out there that want it to go away because they can’t ever get to it. That’s just what it is. But if it goes to 24, if it goes to 16 or whatever, I mean those championship games, those are high-level quarterfinal/semifinal-type matchups that nobody else is having to play,” added the Tigers’ head coach.
Swinney gets that the AFCA’s goal is to shorten the season, condense the calendar, and accommodate an expanded 24-team playoff; he defended the tradition because he played in the inaugural 1992 SEC Championship Game as a walk-on WR for Alabama and views these matchups as an essential part of the sport’s identity and a high-level “quarterfinal” style experience.
There is another reason Swinney likes these games. He rarely loses them. During his time at Clemson, Swinney has coached in 10 ACC Championship games. His record? 9-1. He lost the first one to Georgia Tech in 2009. Since then, it’s been a 9-0 run, with the latest conference championship coming against SMU in 2024.
The conference championship games provide a “level playing field” by ensuring top teams face high-stakes competition before the playoffs, rather than sitting out while others play. Without these games, it would become even harder for committees to evaluate and seed teams for the CFP. Despite that, as the playoff field expands, Dabo Swinney acknowledges that the elimination of these games might be “inevitable.”
The CFP remains unchanged for the 2026 season as a 12-team format. However, in a potential 24-team playoff, if teams also participate in a conference championship, they could be forced to play up to 17 or 18 games in a single season, a volume of high-intensity games that is physically unsustainable for student-athletes. Therefore, eliminating conference title games clears a vital week in early December, allowing the expanded playoff to begin immediately after the regular season ends.
Yet Dabo Swinney publicly lobbies to preserve the ACC championship game. However, the coach didn’t hold back from mentioning the need for a fix to CFB’s academic calendar, partially supporting the AFCA’s demands.
Key proposals from multiple NCAA coaches
The AFCA argues that the current length of the CFB season is unsustainable. According to the board, finishing earlier would better align the season with the academic calendar and the transfer portal window.
“Structuring the season in this way will better support student-athletes by more closely matching the academic calendar and aligning with the single transfer portal window,” said the AFCA. “It also elevates the quality of play during the most meaningful stretch of the season by removing unnecessary breaks and preserving competitive rhythm.”
That’s why it proposed some changes, including cutting the number of scheduled open dates during the regular season from two to one. To allow for a tighter playoff schedule, the AFCA recommends reducing the minimum required days between contests to no less than 6 days.
To cap it off, while it preserves an exclusive television window for the Army-Navy game, the proposal suggests allowing other postseason or playoff games to be played on that same Saturday outside of that specific window. Additionally, the AFCA board voted to support a 24-team playoff and stated that future models should “maximize the number of participants.”
However, these recommendations from AFCA are currently non-binding and intended to spur dialogue.
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