College Football Playoff to Grow to 24 Teams in 2027

WHO:

NBC News - The College Football Playoff (CFP) is expanding its field.

CBS Sports - The Big Ten and SEC had central roles in negotiating the playoff’s future format. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey initially supported a 12- or 16-team format; the Big Ten pushed for 24 teams.

CBS Sports - The ACC, Big 12 and independent Notre Dame supported a 24-team format.

CBS Sports - CFP leadership and Navy athletic director Michael Kelly worked to preserve a standalone broadcast window for the Army-Navy game.

CBS Sports - President Trump signed an executive order aimed at ensuring the Army-Navy game’s exclusive broadcast window.

WHAT:

CBS Sports - The SEC originated conference championship games in 1992. Its championship game generated about $100 million in revenue, and last year’s Alabama-Georgia SEC Championship averaged 16.9 million viewers, the seventh-most-watched game of the season.

CBS Sports - The SEC moved to a nine-game conference schedule; complaints about the change from prominent coaches contributed to the conference becoming more open to playoff expansion.

CBS Sports - With 20 playoff spots available, three- and four-loss SEC teams will have a substantially easier path to qualifying, the article reported.

Fox News - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and fans criticized the expansion; DeSantis called it a “short-sighted move” that would further erode what makes college football special.

CBS Sports - The CFP will expand to 24 teams for the 2027 season, replacing the current 12-team format. Its proposed “19+4+1” field consists of 19 at-large bids, four reserved for Power Four champions and one for the highest-rated Group of Six champion.

CBS Sports - First- and second-round games are planned for campus sites; quarterfinals and semifinals will continue at traditional bowls, including the Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl.

CBS Sports - The CFP said expansion is intended to increase opportunities for FBS programs, student-athletes and fans to participate and compete for the national championship. It said the format will include 16 on-campus playoff games and new scheduling standards to encourage more compelling regular-season nonconference matchups.

CBS Sports - The CFP began with four teams after the 2014 season; Ohio State won that championship. It expanded to 12 teams in 2024, with Ohio State again winning the first larger-format playoff.

CBS Sports - The SEC said its 2026 conference championship game would be its last. The article reports that expansion will eliminate conference championship games.

CBS Sports - The Heisman Trophy ceremony will move up a week, to the first weekend of December. Its 2027 ceremony is scheduled for December 3-5.

CBS Sports - The Army-Navy game’s 2027 date is changing from Dec. 11 to Dec. 4, ahead of the CFP games.

WHERE:

CBS Sports - The playoff’s first- and second-round games will be played on college campuses; later rounds will use traditional bowl venues.

CBS Sports - The Army-Navy game is broadcast on CBS/Paramount+.

WHEN:

CBS Sports - The 24-team format is scheduled to begin in 2027.

CBS Sports - The CFP is expected to start in the first full week of December, after the regular season ends in the last weekend of November.

CBS Sports - The article says the 2027 CFP is expected to begin Thursday, Dec. 9.

WHY:

CBS Sports - The stated rationale for expansion is to give more FBS programs, student-athletes and fan bases a chance to reach the playoff and compete for the national championship.

CBS Sports - The expanded calendar required negotiations over conference championship games and their revenue. The SEC had sought to offset lost championship-game revenue and require at least 10 regular-season games against power-conference opponents.

HOW:

CBS Sports - The Big Ten initially advocated guaranteed automatic qualifiers allocated mostly among power conferences. A 16-team model of five automatic bids and 11 at-large bids later became popular among college sports executives.

CBS Sports - CFP executives expected to seek about $70 million to $80 million beyond the nearly $250 million combined value of conference championship games. The potential additional annual rights fee was reported as more than $320 million, beyond ESPN’s existing agreement, which the article says averages $1.3 billion annually.

CBS Sports - The article says ESPN holds rights to the ACC, Big 12 and SEC championship games and could redirect those rights fees toward an expanded playoff agreement. Disney Advertising manages official corporate sponsorship packages for the ACC and SEC.

CBS Sports - The Army-Navy game will move up a week in 2027 to preserve its standalone window before the playoff games.

The College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams in 2027, replacing its current format. Early rounds will take place on campuses, with later games at traditional bowl venues. Army-Navy moves earlier, preserving its standalone broadcast window.