College Football Playoff could double to 24 teams in 2027
A Thursday announcement reportedly adds 12 teams and a round to the bracket, and the format details, from byes to injury risk, are already being argued.
In brief
- The playoff is reported to grow from 12 to 24 teams starting with the 2027 season.
- The Big Ten had pushed for 24 teams while the SEC resisted, which kept 2026 at 12.
- Reported format: eight teams get a first-round bye while 16 play.
- Final seeding and the number of at-large bids are not confirmed.
The College Football Playoff is expected to grow from 12 to 24 teams as soon as 2027, according to NBC Sports’ ProFootballTalk, which says a deal to double the field is coming.
The Texarkana Gazette, through its UCLA Wire coverage, reports a Thursday announcement of expansion to 24 teams starting with the 2027 season. The current 12-team bracket is in its third season, after it replaced the four-team format in 2024. The playoff system itself dates to 2014.
A standoff between the Big Ten and the SEC
The politics behind the move are documented. The Big Ten spent the past year pushing for 24 teams, while the SEC resisted. The two sides could not agree on terms, and that failure left the 2026 season to be played in the 12-team format.
USA TODAY writers Austin Curtwright and John Brice, in a report carried by the Gazette, wrote: “What the new format will look like is still uncertain given the addition of 12 teams and an extra round that will have to be squeezed into a crowded December schedule.”
What the reported format looks like
Details differ by source, and the most specific version comes from a message board, not from an official announcement.
| Element | What is reported | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| First-round bye | Eight teams rest for a week while the other 16 play, cutting the field to 16 | NBC Sports |
| Field makeup | 19 at-large teams, four Power 4 champions and one Group of Six team | A forum poster citing ESPN |
| Early rounds | Seeds 1 to 8 skip round one and host round two on campus | The same forum poster |
| Later rounds | Quarterfinals, semifinals and final at neutral sites | The same forum poster |
Stars, bowls and a lopsided first round
NBC Sports argues that the expanded bracket would expose the best players on playoff teams to up to five more games. That raises injury risk and makes it harder to justify the now-common choice to skip a bowl game that offers no shot at a championship.
The same piece looks at competitiveness. Through two years of the current format, only one opening-round game has been decided by one score. Winners of those games have done well against higher seeds who sat through a long break, but NBC Sports says that edge for round-two underdogs disappears once the schedule compresses.
Arguments over the regular season
Opinion is split. The College Sports Wire concedes that four-loss teams and several three-loss teams would make a 24-team field, which it says devalues the regular season. Its columnist nonetheless defends the expansion on other grounds.
Arguments in favor
- The new rounds would make a 13th game real for many more teams than the four power-conference title games, which involve eight teams.
- Early rounds could finish before the NFL takes over December Saturdays, with an earlier season start and more August weeknight and Sunday games.
- The 2025 ACC title game, won by Duke over Virginia, produced no playoff team, and Ohio State was a No. 2 seed despite losing to Indiana.
Arguments against
- NBC Sports contends that more games will not mean better games.
- Two 8-3 teams could meet in Game 12 with the winner getting in, a prospect the College Sports Wire piece calls unappealing.
- The same column faults the sport for jumping from 12 to 24 without ever trying a 16-team field.
NBC Sports also frames the move as a revenue play and says players would face more work and added draft-stock risk. Those are the outlet’s own opinions, not findings.
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