Good newsCollege Football Playoff Opens 24 Spots and 16 Campus Games From 2027
The College Football Playoff will grow from 12 to 24 teams in 2027-28, with 16 of 23 games on campuses and 19 at-large places. ESPN keeps every game under a new five-year rights deal.
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SEC Ends Its Title Game After 35 Years as ESPN Takes 23 Playoff Games
More teams, more students and more home crowds will get a place in American college football’s postseason from next year. The College Football Playoff (CFP) announced on 9 November that its Management Committee had unanimously approved a 24-team field beginning with the 2027-28 season. This season’s playoff stays at 12 teams, and the 24-team format will run through 2031-32.
Who gets in
The field will hold the four conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC, as determined by those conferences. It adds the highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt, and then the 19 highest-ranked remaining teams in the final CFP ranking. Today’s format has seven at-large places. The CFP says it wants to give more programs, players and fan bases a chance to play for the national championship.
Seeds 1 to 8 receive a first-round bye. Seeds 9 to 16 host the first round on their own campuses against seeds 17 to 24, and the top eight seeds host the second round. Quarterfinals and semifinals stay at the six CFP bowl sites: the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar.
What changes for fans
Sixteen of the 23 games will be played on campus, up from four of 11 now. That puts playoff football in front of student sections and local crowds, rather than only at neutral stadiums. The CFP says the format will bring playoff football to more students and local fans, with a positive effect on campus communities.
Army and Navy get a protected window. No playoff game will be scheduled against the Army-Navy game, and the CFP says the arrangement also gives both academies a chance to compete for a national title. The new format ends in New Orleans on 24 January 2028, followed by Tampa Bay on 22 January 2029.
| 12-team format (2026-27) | 24-team format (2027-28 to 2031-32) | |
|---|---|---|
| Playoff games | 11 | 23 |
| Games on a campus | 4 | 16 |
| Seeds with a first-round bye | 4 | 8 |
| Most games a champion plays | 4 | 5 |
| At-large places | 7 | 19 |
| Table: GoodBad. Data from the CFP format fact sheet, 9 November 2026. Game counts are our arithmetic from the bracket. |
Who will show it
ESPN becomes the exclusive worldwide rights holder for all 23 games through the 2031-32 season, with the right to sublicense some. ABC will carry at least three games from each of the first two rounds. The CFP did not disclose financial terms. ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported a five-year deal worth .7 billion, according to Yahoo Sports.
A better regular season
The CFP adopted scheduling standards. Teams in the four biggest conferences are expected to play at least 10 qualifying games, including non-conference opponents from the other big conferences or Notre Dame. The selection committee will give no weight to a win over more than one FCS opponent per season.
There will also be two open weeks in the regular season, and every qualifying team gets an open week before the playoff begins. The final regular-season games in 2027 fall on 27 November. Heisman Trophy weekend moves a week earlier, to 3 to 5 December 2027.
What is still open
Decisions on conference championship games rest with each conference. The SEC has already announced that its 2026 title game on 5 December will be the last. Programming plans and key dates, including Selection Day, are still to come.
