College Football Playoff doubles up, expands to 24 teams beginning next season
The new format gives 19 spots to at-large teams and keeps the top eight seeds on a bye as ESPN adds more postseason inventory.
- The College Football Playoff and ESPN finalized a five-year, nearly $1.7 billion agreement on Monday to expand the postseason tournament to 24 teams beginning in 2027.
- Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti drove the 24-team model and accepted the trade-off months ago; the agreement eliminates lucrative Power Four conference championship games to enable the expanded format.
- ESPN will pay an average of $345 million annually for the new inventory, while the 24-team field includes 19 at-large bids, the Power Four champions, and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team.
- Selection Day is set for November 28, 2027, and the national championship remains January 24, 2028; the Army-Navy game moves to the first weekend in December.
- Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, chair of the CFP board, said opening the playoff to more programs is "great for college football," though administrators may later debate alterations to the format.
180 Articles
180 Articles
College Football Playoff Grows, Ending Conference Title Games
The College Football Playoff will double in size to 24 teams starting next year, brinding an end to a three-decade era of conference title games that used to be among the brand events of the season. The announcement from the College Football Playoff and ESPN on Monday made official a...
The Toronto Star
So long, conference title games. The marquee events are the biggest casualty in an expanded playoff
It was a groundbreaking idea that a large swath of football fans, coaches and athletic directors didn't really like. The biggest losers, they argued, would be the very programs that were pushing for it to go forward — the teams…
Josh Pate Blasts College Football Playoff's 24-Team Expansion
Josh Pate didn't hold back after the College Football Playoff officially announced its expansion to 24 teams beginning in 2027, questioning the value of the new format and its impact on the regular season.
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