The CFP is nearing the end of its exclusive negotiating window with ESPN over what a 24-team College Football Playoff will look like and how much money it could draw for its conferences. The sport is as close to expanding the CFP from 12 to 24 teams as it has ever been, but CFP executive director Rich Clark isn't ready to declare it done as the final week of negotiations with ESPN begins. The CFP management committee, made up of 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, met Wednesday at the Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois, for updates on ESPN negotiations and to evaluate the logistical scheduling needed for a 24-team bracket.
"I would say that there's still a lot of things that we have to work through, and I would not call it a foregone conclusion at this point," Clark told CBS Sports in a phone interview after the meeting. Nor is a 2027 start guaranteed if the playoff does expand. Clark believes the CFP could be ready for next season, but he stopped short of a promise.
"I think we would be," Clark said. "We would have to take a hard look at that because a lot of it would depend on how some of the final details get fleshed out. But, I think there's a good probability that we could be ready to do it next season." The CFP faces a Dec. 1 deadline to make format changes for the 2027-28 season.
A vote to expand before then would not, by itself, put 24 teams on the field next year. If the logistics can't be finished in time, the bigger bracket would wait until 2028 at the earliest. The emerging favorite model includes the top 23 teams in the CFP Selection Committee's final rankings and the highest-ranked Group of Six team.
The playoff would begin two weeks after the regular season, in the second week of December, and would require the sunsetting of conference championship games. The first two rounds of the CFP would be played on campuses. Eight games would be played in the first round and eight more in the second round, with eight teams receiving byes and awaiting the first-round winners.
Conference leaders want assurance of an additional revenue stream north of $200 million to offset the loss of their championship games. If ESPN and the CFP don't reach terms by Oct. 9, the playoff can take the expanded package to the open market. The 24-team model runs concurrently with the Army-Navy game, traditionally scheduled on the second Saturday of December, the week after conference championship games.
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