The College Football Playoff is nearing a deal to expand to 24 teams, CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz confirms. The new format is slated to debut in 2027, but final approvals are still required. The 30-day negotiating window between the CFP and ESPN was set to close at the end of last week, but was extended when playoff officials activated a clause that gave the network five more business days to review the numbers.
Playoff expansion has felt inevitable for some time now. The only question was how many teams would be included. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey publicly supported a 16-team playoff, but the CFP is going well beyond that to double the field next year.
The CFP debuted in a four-team format at the end of the 2014 season with Ohio State winning the national championship. A decade later, in 2024, the playoff was expanded to 12 teams, and Ohio State was once again the first team to make it through the larger bracket. Expansion to 24 teams brings even more questions about a variety of topics, including whether it signals the end of conference championship games.
"They're gonna be gone," said CBS Sports' John Talty on Thursday's College Football Insiders following the expansion news. "That's the reality of the situation." CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello reports that one sticking point from conference commissioners was offsetting the financial losses that would come with eliminating championship games. Marcello estimates that the CFP could offer an additional $320 million on top of the current contract, which averages $1.2 billion per year.
Here are further takeaways from Marcello's previous reporting on CFP's march towards expansion. The move toward a 24-team College Football Playoff followed a year of debate and negotiation, with the sport's two most powerful conferences initially advocating for different approaches. The Big Ten pushed for a 24-team field, while SEC commissioner Greg Sankey favored a 12- or 16-team structure that would preserve his conference's championship game.
The breakthrough came in September, when both leagues agreed to evaluate the larger bracket. Sankey had outlined key prerequisites in a memo: offsetting lost SEC championship game revenue and requiring at least 10 regular-season games against power-conference opponents. The Big Ten and SEC hold ultimate authority over the playoff format.
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