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The College Football Playoff will grow from 12 teams to 24 starting with the 2027 season. The format guarantees places for the four Power 4 champions and the highest-ranked Group of 6 champion, with 19 at-large teams; the change also alters the season calendar and removes Power 4 conference title games.
The College Football Playoff will expand to 24 teams starting in the 2027 season, doubling the size of the current 12-team field and changing the postseason calendar. The new bracket reserves places for the four Power 4 conference champions and the highest-ranked Group of 6 champion, while the remaining 19 spots go to at-large teams selected using the committee’s final ranking.
The field will include champions from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, as well as the highest-ranked champion from the Group of 6 conferences. The other 19 teams will be at-large selections. The format therefore guarantees access for those five champions, while teams outside that group will depend on the committee’s rankings.
The expansion brings wider changes to the football calendar. The regular season is set to run from Aug. 28 through Nov. 27, 2027, including Thanksgiving weekend. The report says the move will eliminate Power 4 conference championship games, shift Selection Day and move the Army-Navy game. The new Selection Day date has not yet been announced.
ESPN will remain the playoff’s sole rights holder and may sublicense six of the 12 newly added games. ESPN’s existing agreement runs through the 2031 season. ESPN sources cited in the report put the additional average annual payment for the expanded playoff at $345 million for five years, on top of an existing average of $1.3 billion annually. Those figures are attributed to sources familiar with the discussions, not to a public financial filing in the report.
More Teams, a Longer Postseason
The expansion gives more programs a route into the national championship bracket and changes how teams, conferences and broadcasters approach the season. With 24 places rather than 12, more teams could remain in contention later in the year, though the effect on individual games and rivalries has not yet been established.
The cost of that broader field is a reshaped calendar. Removing Power 4 title games and adjusting the timing of Selection Day and Army-Navy affects more than the playoff itself: it changes the sequence of late-season games and the space available for bowls. The report says the change will have a trickle-down effect on bowl season, but does not provide a complete revised bowl schedule.
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How the 24-Team Plan Took Shape
Expansion followed negotiations in which the Big Ten and SEC held substantial influence over the format. The Big Ten circulated a 24-team proposal the previous February, according to ESPN’s report. The Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and Notre Dame later supported that approach, while the SEC initially favored a 16-team model.
Financial considerations were part of the negotiations. ESPN’s additional payments are partly offset by the cancellation of conference championship games whose broadcast rights it holds; the report says ESPN is expected to recover about $140 million annually from the SEC, Big 12 and ACC games. Fox is expected to recover about $50 million annually following cancellation of the Big Ten title game, according to sources cited by ESPN.
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin argued that the larger field better matches the number of teams competing at the top level. He said there are 68 Power 4 teams plus Notre Dame, but only 11 playoff places for them under the then-current system. That is his case for expansion, rather than an independent measure of how access will change for each conference.
“I would say that it provides the right balance of postseason opportunities for the number of schools in the sport competing at this level.”
— Scott Stricklin, Florida athletic director
Scheduling Details Still Pending
The overall format and 2027 start are established in the report, but the new Selection Day date has not been announced. The available material also does not specify the complete playoff game schedule, how the 24 teams will be seeded, or the precise arrangement of the expanded postseason calendar.
The effect on the regular season remains uncertain, including whether a larger field changes the stakes of late-season games or major Thanksgiving-weekend rivalries. The report also does not detail how bowls will be scheduled around the playoff, or how teams will handle player availability and transfer-portal timing during the altered postseason.
Calendar Plans for 2027
The next practical step is for the playoff organizers and conferences to provide the remaining calendar details, including Selection Day and postseason dates. Those decisions will clarify how the expanded bracket fits alongside bowls and the relocated Army-Navy game.
As the 2027 season approaches, the format’s effects on scheduling, conference planning and late-season competition will become clearer. For now, the confirmed framework is a 24-team field with five champion access places and 19 at-large selections; the full operational schedule remains to come.
Key Questions
When does the 24-team College Football Playoff begin?
The expanded format is scheduled to start with the 2027 season.
How are the 24 playoff places allocated?
The field includes the four Power 4 conference champions, the highest-ranked Group of 6 champion and 19 at-large teams chosen based on the selection committee’s final ranking.
Will conference championship games continue?
The report says the change will eliminate Power 4 conference championship games. It does not provide further detail on how each conference will arrange its schedule after their removal.
What changes to the calendar are confirmed?
The 2027 regular season is set to run from Aug. 28 to Nov. 27. Selection Day will move to a date that has not yet been announced, and the Army-Navy game will also move.
Who will broadcast the expanded playoff?
ESPN remains the sole rights holder and can sublicense six of the 12 new games, according to the report.
Source: espn.com
