College Football Playoff Triples to 24 Teams, Ending Conference Title Era

The College Football Playoff will expand to 24 teams starting next season, a move that effectively ends the three-decade run of conference title games as the central marquee events of the football calendar.

College leaders announced the new format on Monday. ESPN agreed to rework its existing media rights deal to accommodate the additional games. The network signed a five-year extension worth an additional $1.7 billion, bringing the total value of its contract to $8.5 billion through the 2031 season. Terms regarding the specific revenue split were not detailed, but the new revenue stream is expected to offset the estimated $345 million value previously attributed to Power Four conference title games.

The new structure designates five automatic qualifiers. These slots belong to the champions of the four Power Four conferences and the highest-ranked team from the Group of Six conferences. A selection panel will choose the remaining 19 teams. The top eight seeds in the expanded bracket will receive first-round byes, and the playoff will commence on the second weekend in December with the first two rounds played on campus.

Notre Dame will not receive a guaranteed spot under the new rules, losing the protection it currently holds for the final year of the 12-team format. The traditional Army-Navy game will shift to the first weekend in December, a date previously reserved for conference championships. The first championship game for the 24-team field is scheduled for January 24, 2028, in New Orleans, while traditional bowl games will continue to host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.

Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State and chair of the CFP board, defended the expansion in a statement. “Opening the playoff to more programs, more student-athletes and more fan bases across the country is great for college football,” Keenum said. “We look forward to seeing this expanded format come to life next season.”

The Southeastern and Big Ten conferences, whose approval was required for the change, expect the additional slots to benefit their member schools. This projection aims to justify continued spending on player compensation and roster construction in an era defined by Name, Image and Likeness deals and $50 million payroll levels. The Big Ten had pushed for a larger field, while the SEC initially resisted due to concerns over the marketability of its championship game, a property the conference created in 1992.

Skepticism remains regarding the impact on the regular season. Critics argue that replacing high-profile conference matchups, such as Alabama versus Georgia in an SEC title game, with lower-seed matchups like Kentucky versus South Carolina dilutes the competitive integrity of the fall schedule. They point to past selection committee errors, such as the exclusion of Florida State in 2023 and Notre Dame last season, as evidence that the panel has not yet mastered managing a large bracket.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti argued that the expanded playoff will increase viewer attention at the end of the regular season. By giving bubble teams a path to postseason play and allowing others to compete for home-field advantage, the format aims to sustain interest beyond the traditional rivalry games that often carry the only meaningful stakes in the current system.

The agreement mandates that Power Four teams play at least 10 qualifying regular-season games against conference opponents, other Power Four schools, or Notre Dame. Group of Six teams must play 10 games against conference opponents and a mix of Group of Six, Notre Dame, and other independent teams. The new system also guarantees two off weeks during a regular season that begins the week before Labor Day.

This expansion marks the second growth of the playoff since its inception in 2014 as a four-team event. The field moved to 12 teams in 2024, a size that many in the sport believed was the logical maximum before the Big Ten lobbied for further growth.