College Football Playoff to Expand to 24 Teams in 2027
The expansion locks in a five-year, $1.7 billion media deal with ESPN and requires power conference teams to play 10 major non-conference or conference games.
By Aiko Petrov ·
The College Football Playoff will grow from 12 teams to 24 starting with the 2027-28 season. The governing body made the change official on Monday morning. The expansion is designed to increase the number of postseason games while changing how teams qualify for the tournament.
ESPN signed a new media rights agreement that makes it the exclusive worldwide broadcaster for the expanded field. The company will air all 23 playoff games. Financial terms were not disclosed in the official release. ESPN later reported the contract is worth $1.7 billion over five years. This deal cements the network’s control over the product it has presented since 2015.
The new format includes the champions from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and ACC. It also guarantees a spot for the highest-ranked team from the Group of Six conferences. The remaining 19 spots are at-large selections. This structure likely means sixth and seventh place teams from major conferences will advance. The decision to eliminate conference championship games in the four power conferences accompanies this change.
Teams that reach the national championship game will play their 17th or 18th regular season game. The top 16 seeds will play their first playoff game at home. Seeds 9 through 16 will host in the first round. The top eight seeds will have a bye week. Quarterfinal and semifinal games will be held at existing New Year’s Day bowl sites. The Rose Bowl will remain a host site for the tournament.
The scheduling calendar will shift to avoid conflicts with the Army-Navy game. The Heisman Trophy ceremony will move up one week. The CFP Management Committee adopted new scheduling standards to encourage strong non-conference play. Institutions in the Autonomous Four must schedule 10 games that are either conference contests or non-conference games against other power conference schools or Notre Dame.
Rich Clark, the executive director of the CFP, discussed the new rules on a Monday morning teleconference. He stated that the committee will reward schedule strength in the selection process. Clark said that marquee wins will carry significant weight in determining who advances. He acknowledged that many fans oppose the expansion but said the group decided to move forward with the plan.
The change affects current teams immediately. UCLA met the new schedule standard this season by playing only two Group of Six opponents. USC played three such games in the early season. Those games would have placed the Trojans below the new 10-game threshold. The committee intends to use these metrics to guide future selections.
