The College Football Playoff announced a major expansion Monday morning, growing from 12 to 24 teams starting with the 2027 season. The move marks the latest evolution of the CFP and introduces a new calendar that expands the postseason while maintaining several other December traditions.
Under the approved format, the 24-team field will include the regular-season champions of the four Power Four (Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten) conferences, the highest-ranked Group of Six (American, Conference USA, Pac-12, Sun Belt, MAC and Mountain West) champion and 19 at-large CFP committee selections. The expanded playoff will feature 23 total games, including 16 on-campus matches in the first and second rounds, with all games carried on the ESPN networks as part of a five-year media rights agreement.
CFP leaders also structured the schedule to avoid conflicts with the annual Army-Navy game, which will now take place on conference championship weekend, as well as the Heisman Trophy Ceremony, which will move one week earlier than on the current calendar.
The top eight teams in the final CFP rankings will receive first-round byes, while seeds No. 9 to No. 24 will compete in first-round games hosted on the campus of the higher seed. Second-round contests will also be played on campuses before the playoff shifts to the New Year’s Six bowl sites for the quarterfinals and semifinals.
The change extends beyond the playoff itself. While the CFP’s official release said the fate of conference championship games lies with each individual conference, Dinich reported that the expansion eliminates SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 championship games. Instead, regular-season conference standings and tiebreaker procedures will determine those winners, ending a system that has given the top two teams a chance to win the title on the field.
The new college football season will begin in “Week Zero,” the week before Labor Day, and end on Thanksgiving weekend. Power 4 teams will be required to play 10 games against either conference opponents, other P4 opponents or Notre Dame. Group of 6 teams will have to play 10 games against conference opponents or non-conference games against other G6/P4 teams or independent institutions.
FCS opponents, such as K-State’s season opener against Nicholls, would not count towards playoff qualification.
Rich Clark, CFP executive director, said in a statement the new format is intended to create greater postseason access and will make a more “spectacular” experience.
“We will make the 24-team Playoff spectacular for the fans, student-athletes, their institutions and all our stakeholders,” Clark said. “That is our commitment. Our organization delivers a world-class championship experience at our games and our events, and this promise will continue under the new format.”
The expansion to 24 teams follows years of rumors and discussions among CFP officials, media partners and conference commissioners. The College Football Playoff began following the 2014 season as a four-team playoff, replacing the Bowl Championship Series where only two teams competed for a title. This format continued for 10 years before expanding to 12 teams in 2024, although conference leaders and playoff officials continued exploring larger formats that would expand the field once again.
With the new agreement finalized, the 2027-28 season will mark a new era of college football. Despite mixed opinions from media personalities and fans alike, the format will go on with an expanded field, and more teams will enter December with a chance to compete for a national title.
