Clemson coach Dabo Swinney understands college football is changing again, but there is one part of the sport’s new direction he will genuinely miss.
With the College Football Playoff
set to expand to 24 teams beginning in 2027, conference championship games are on their way out. The CFP reached a five-year, $1.7 billion agreement with ESPN on Nov. 9, setting up one of the biggest postseason changes the sport has seen.For Swinney, the end of conference title games carries some real emotion.
“I wouldn’t say it bothers me, but I’m not a fan of that,” Swinney said. “I love the conference championship games. I think it’s been great.”
“It doesn’t bother me. I’d just say it kind of saddens me a little bit, I guess, because that’s going away,” Swinney
added. “But hey, something new is coming. You just embrace it and you go attack whatever’s coming. But I hate to see that.”
Few coaches have as much experience with conference championship games as Swinney.
Clemson has played in 10 ACC Championship Games under Swinney, going 9-1 in those appearances. He also played for Alabama in the inaugural SEC Championship Game in 1992.
“I’ve been in 10 ACC Championship Games. 10. And man, those are special moments,” Swinney said. “Those are special moments and memories, and I hate for future coaches and kids to not get the opportunity – and fans – to kind of experience that.”
Removing conference championship games also helps prevent an expanded playoff from creating an 18-game season for some teams.
Swinney, however, would have preferred a smaller playoff field that allowed conference championship weekend to survive.
“I think 24 [teams in the College Football Playoff] is too many, but I didn’t get a vote,” Swinney added. “I would have liked to have seen championship games stay. They didn’t ask me.”
Under the new setup, conference championship weekend will instead become an open week for playoff teams, while Army-Navy will receive its own clearer place on the calendar.
Dabo Swinney has firm response to idea of hiring someone to oversee roster
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) November 10, 2026
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The ACC and the other Power Four conferences have acknowledged the coming change, meaning the conference championship games scheduled for December 2026 will be the last of their kind.
For Clemson, that will close a significant chapter of the Swinney era. The Tigers have built some of their biggest moments over the past decade on ACC Championship weekend, and Swinney clearly wishes future players and fans could continue experiencing it.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson’s Dabo Swinney unhappy with loss of conference championship games
