ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips calls for College Football Playoff expansion after Notre Dame snub

Notre Dame missing the College Football Playoff continues to be a talking point. Especially for ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, who has found himself quite involved in the aftermath. Phillips and Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua have gone back and forth on the topic, mainly about the pair’s relationship.

Now, Phillips is calling for expansion of the CFP after the Irish were snubbed this season. He compared the experience to what Florida State went through in 2023, being left out despite winning the ACC and going undefeated. Phillips says if quality teams are on the wrong side of the bubble, more should get into the field.

“There’s such heartache at that cutline right now,” Phillips said. “And, what I would say is, my barometer about what’s enough and what’s not enough is — if you’re leaving teams out of the Playoff that could win a national championship, then you don’t have the right number. We experienced it two seasons ago with Florida State, the only undefeated team to not make the Playoff at 13-0. And that’s when it was at four.

“Last year, one of our schools was in a similar situation, SMU and Alabama. SMU was in and Alabama was out. But all of the schools, right now, at the cutline deserve to be in.”

This is just the second year of the 12-team CFP. Major changes came this past offseason in regards to seeding, making the top-four teams eligible for byes in the first round instead of the top four conference champions.

Expansion has long been a topic of discussion, though. Conference commissioners were supposed to have an answer before the year’s end but pushed the deadline back to late January. Everyone will watch this edition of the College Football Playoff play out before deciding on the 2026 format.

In a 16-team field, Notre Dame would be in quite comfortably. Even if they decide to stay at 12 or even move to 14, there is a scenario where Notre Dame is guaranteed a spot. All they have to do is be ranked inside the top 12. Bevacqua revealed the agreement in recent days, meaning if it was in effect this season, the Irish would have gotten in over Miami despite being ranked behind them.

Either way, Phillips appears to believe the answer is expansion. He will be part of the process on making the final decision on whether more than 12 teams are in the CFP moving forward.