The College Football Playoff and ESPN announced on Monday that there will be a 24-team field starting in 2027.
With the network and CFP agreeing to the deal, the field size will double from 12 after just three seasons at that size. The change will bring about multiple major changes to college football with the end of conference championship games and the moving of the Army-Navy game and Heisman Trophy ceremony. The whole season will start earlier, too, with Week Zero in August.
As the Four Power conference champions get automatic bids along with the top Group of Six conference team, 19 at-large bids will be up for grabs.
To get an idea of how a 24-team field will look for the CFP, here’s how it would possibly have played out based on the latest CFP rankings if the field went to 24 this year.
A Look at the Field
The top four teams will receive byes as before. For the moment, that’s No. 1 Georgia (8–1), No. 2 Utah (9–0), No. 3 Alabama (7–2), and No. 4 UCLA (9–0).
In addition, the top 4–8 teams would also land byes in the 24-team field. That’s No. 5 Notre Dame (8–1), No. 6 Texas (7–2), No. 7 Miami (8–1), and No. 8 Tennessee (7–2).
This is where the difference between the current field of 12 versus 24 teams really becomes noticeable week to week in the regular season. Suddenly, No. 9 Indiana (8–1), No. 10 BYU (7–2), No. 11 Kentucky (7–2), and No. 12 Texas Tech (8–1) are no longer battling for the final playoff spots in a 12-team field.
With the current format, No. 24 Boise State (8–1) would get that final No. 12 spot as the top G6 team. That also means No. 13 Wake Forest (8–1), No. 14 Houston (7–2), and No. 15 Iowa (7–2) would be fighting to slip with little hope of making the 12-team field.
Under the new format, those teams would be thinking about seeding instead of fighting for their playoff lives in November. It also means teams such as No. 16 Oregon (6–3), No. 17 South Carolina (6–3), No. 18 USC (7–2), No. 19 Ole Miss (6–3), and No. 20 Ohio State (6–3) are in the running for the CFP instead of settling on bowl games.
Teams further down the CFP top 25-poll such as No. 21 LSU (6–3), No. 22 Missouri (6–3), No. 23 Arizona (7–2), and No. 25 Oklahoma State (6–3) would suddenly be jockeying for the final playoff spots.
How a 24-Team CFP Would Play Out This Year
If college football fielded a 24-team playoff this year, the postseason would kick off on the first week of December in lieu of the conference championship games. Hosts for the on-campus games would include Indiana, BYU, Kentucky, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Houston, Iowa, and Oregon. The top-eight teams would then host second-round games during the second week of December.
Quarterfinals would then commence on New Year’s with the playoffs shifting to major bowl sites: Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Semifinals would then be played the following week at two of the New Year’s Six bowl sites.
The national championship game would then be in late January at a neutral site, which would be Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for this season. Here’s a look at how the matchups would look like for the first-round games:
First Round
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No. 16 Oregon, No. 17 South Carolina
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No. 18 USC, No. 15 Iowa
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No. 19 Ole Miss, No. 14 Houston
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No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 20 Ohio State
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No. 21 LSU, No. 12 Texas Tech
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No. 11 Kentucky, No. 22 Missouri
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No. 10 BYU, No. 23 Arizona
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No. 9 Indiana, No. 24 Boise State
