The College Football Playoff (CFP) Management Committee unanimously approved playoff expansion to 24 teams, beginning with the 2027-28 college football season.
ESPN will continue to serve as the CFP’s broadcast partner, signing a five-year deal worth $1.7 billion.
In light of the 24-team expansion, the Big Ten has also announced that the conference will discontinue its championship game after the 2026 season. The announcement did not include details on how the conference will determine its regular
season champion moving forward, other than to say those plans are being finalized.
The 24-team playoff field will consist of:
- The 4 conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC
- The highest-ranked team from the American, Conference-USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, or Sun Belt conferences
- The 19 highest-ranked remaining teams in the CFP Selection Committee’s final rankings
The first playoff will begin the full first week of December.
The top 8 seeds will each earn a CFP First Round bye and will host a CFP Second Round game on campus.
Seeds 9-16 will each host a CFP First Round game on campus.
Seeds 17-24 will each travel to a CFP First Round game hosted on the campuses of Seeds 9-16.
The CFP Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be played at the six CFP Bowls: Cotton (Dallas, TX), Fiesta (Glendale, AZ), Orange (Miami, FL), Peach (Atlanta, GA), Rose (Pasadena, CA), and Sugar (New Orleans, LA).
New Orleans will host the CFP National Championship on Jan. 24, 2028, and Tampa Bay will host on Jan. 22, 2029. Future host cities for the CFP National Championship are to be determined.
The CFP Selection Committee will also adopt scheduling standards that incentivize institutions to “schedule additional compelling non-conference, regular season matchups.”
Power 4 programs will be expected to play at least 10 qualifying regular season games consisting of conference games and non-conference games against Power 4 conference opponents and Notre Dame.
Group of 6 programs will be expected to play at least 10 qualifying regular season games consisting of conference games and non-conference games against a Group of 6 or Power 5 opponent, Notre Dame, or independent institutions other than Notre Dame.
The CFP Selection Committee will not give any weight to a win over more than one FCS opponent.
