College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams, and here's what's changing

College Football College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams, and here's what's changing The College Football Playoff will double in size next season, expanding to 24 teams and bringing in some dramatic changes to the sport By James Neveau • Published November 9, 2026 • Updated on November 9, 2026 at 11:16 am Another seismic shift has occurred in the world of college football, as the FBS’ College Football Playoff will expand to 24 teams. That expansion will take place beginning in the 2027 season, and it’s going to have numerous effects for teams throughout NCAA football. Stream NBC 5 for free, 24/7, wherever you are. WATCH HERE The long-awaited expansion will push the playoff field, which began as a four-team playoff when it debuted in 2014, to a staggering 24 teams, with five total rounds of competition to determine a national champion. How the New Format Works According to the College Football Playoff committee, the field of teams will expand from 12 to 24 beginning next year. In the 12-team field, four teams were given byes in the first round of the tournament, but that will now expand to eight teams receiving byes, with the other 16 teams competing in the opening round. Of the 24 teams, five spots will be awarded to conference champions, with four of those spots going to the winners of the ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big XII. The fifth spot will go to the top-ranked champion of a non-Power Four conference. The remaining 19 teams will be chosen by the CFP committee. Local Bridgeport 1 hour ago Bridgeport residents dispute report dismissing impacts of proposed Amtrak yard Education 1 hour ago Illinois university named top college in the Midwest by Forbes From there, the field will proceed with a 16-team bracket until a champion is crowned. Big Changes Coming to College Football Here are the biggest changes coming to the sport as a result of the expanded playoff. -Conference championship games will be a thing of the past. All FBS conferences have adopted conference title games in recent years, but with the playoffs moving up a week, those games will now be eliminated, and the regular season champions of each conference will be eligible for byes into the tournament. -The traditional matchup between Army and Navy, which had taken place between conference championship Saturday and the start of the bowl game season, will now take place on the first Saturday in December. -The Heisman Trophy presentation will also take place on that first Saturday in December. -The first two rounds of the College Football Playoff will take place on college campuses, meaning that the teams who receive the eight byes will also be able to host playoff games, unlike the current iteration of the system in which those teams started their postseason runs in bowl games. This article tagged under: College Football