College Football Playoff Expands to 24 Teams in 2027 Under ESPN Deal, Ending Power 4 Title Games

The College Football Playoff will expand from 12 to 24 teams beginning with the 2027-28 season under a new agreement that keeps ESPN as its exclusive rightsholder. The change ends the Power 4 conference championship games, with the SEC and Big Ten saying their 2026 title games will be the last.

Nov 10, 2026 - 15:13

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The College Football Playoff will expand from 12 to 24 teams beginning with the 2027-28 season, after the CFP Management Committee unanimously approved the change on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, according to a CFP announcement. The playoff also reached a new media rights agreement that makes ESPN the exclusive, worldwide rightsholder to the expanded event, with all 23 games of the new format to be presented by ESPN, subject to sublicensing rights.

The CFP said financial terms were not disclosed. ESPN reported, citing sources, that the five-year contract is worth nearly $1.7 billion. The expansion also brings an end to the Power 4 conference championship games, which the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC each confirmed, ABC10 reported.

How the 24-team field will be built

Under the format, the field will include the conference champions of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC, as determined by their respective conferences; the highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt; and the 19 highest-ranked remaining teams in the CFP Selection Committee's final ranking, according to the CFP's format fact sheet.

Notre Dame, an independent, will no longer have a guaranteed path if it is not ranked high enough to earn one of the at-large bids, ESPN reported. The current 2026-27 playoff will still be played under the 12-team format, and the field will remain at 24 teams for the duration of the agreement through the 2031-32 season, the CFP said. The playoff began in the 2014 season with four teams and expanded to 12 teams beginning with the 2024 season, Field Level Media reported.

Seeds 1 through 8 will each earn a first-round bye and host a second-round game on their campus, while seeds 9 through 16 will host first-round games against seeds 17 through 24, according to the CFP. A total of 16 playoff games will be played on campus, up from four in the 12-team format. The quarterfinals and semifinals will continue to be played at the six CFP bowl partners: the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls.

New calendar and scheduling standards

The final regular-season games of the 2027-28 season will be played on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2027, and the playoff will begin the first full week of December, giving each qualifying team an open week before the first round, the CFP said. The first edition of the 24-team championship game is set for Monday, Jan. 24, 2028, in New Orleans.

As part of the expansion, the management committee adopted scheduling standards. Each institution in the four autonomy conferences will be expected to play at least 10 qualifying regular-season games made up of conference games and non-conference games against other autonomy-conference opponents and Notre Dame. The management committee may grant waivers in extraordinary circumstances, according to the CFP.

No playoff games will conflict with the Army-Navy game. Organizers announced Monday that the 2027 game has been moved from Saturday, Dec. 11, 2027, to Saturday, Dec. 4, 2027, ABC10 reported. The Heisman Trophy Weekend will also move one week earlier, to Dec. 3-5 in 2027, the CFP said.

The money behind the deal

The new agreement comes on top of the six-year, $7.8 billion contract the CFP and ESPN signed in March 2024, ESPN reported. Citing sources, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that the average additional payment is $345 million annually over the next five years, in addition to the average of $1.3 billion annually ESPN is already paying. ESPN is getting back $140 million annually from the cancellation of the SEC, Big 12 and ACC championship games, which it holds the rights to broadcast, and Fox is expected to get back about $50 million annually for the cancellation of the Big Ten title game, according to the report.

CFP executive director Rich Clark said the management committee, made up of the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, voted unanimously for the 24-team field and for keeping revenue distribution the same, ESPN reported. "We're aware of the fan sentiment and that many fans aren't in favor of expansion, but that was certainly weighed into the decision and it was considered," Clark said.

Conference title games come to an end

The Southeastern Conference announced that the 2026 SEC Football Championship Game will be the final edition of the event. The 35th and final game will be played Dec. 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, AL.com reported. The game was first played at Birmingham's Legion Field after the 1992 regular season, when Alabama beat Florida 28-21.

The Big Ten said it is working with its universities on a plan to determine its football champion after this year's final championship game in Indianapolis on Dec. 5, WHTM reported. "We look forward to our final Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game on Dec. 5," Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said. According to ESPN's sources, the Power 4 conferences are expected to determine their champions through regular-season standings and established tiebreaking procedures.

"Expanding the College Football Playoff is about more than adding teams," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement reported by On3. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said that "even with this expansion, the CFP will remain the most exclusive postseason format in major American sports," and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said "a 24-team format delivers more opportunities for programs to compete for a national championship."

ESPN executive Nick Dawson said the network has not yet decided the future of the bowl games it owns and operates. Asked about the effect on regular-season interest, Dawson said, "In all honesty, it's impossible to know for sure." The Associated Press reported that the new format ends a three-decade era of conference title games.