This article was written by Gus Wilson and published on Sport & State, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation.
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It’s official. The College Football Playoff is doubling in size, and college football is about to look a whole lot different.
Nearly a month after reports of a handshake agreement between the CFP and ESPN, the two sides finalized a five-year media rights deal Monday morning, officially expanding the playoff field from 12 to 24 teams beginning in 2027.
PLAYOFF EXPANSION: The CFP and ESPN have agreed to a 5-year, $1.7B deal to expand the playoff to 24-teams. https://t.co/xbVLcznMWy
— Sport & State (@SportNState) November 9, 2026
The CFP Management Committee unanimously approved the expansion, with ESPN reportedly agreeing to pay nearly $1.7 billion for the additional games while retaining broadcasting rights to all 23 playoff matchups.
But while the expansion is officially happening, plenty of questions remain about what college football will look like next season.
From automatic bids and scheduling changes to conference championships and selection criteria, there’s a lot to unpack. Here’s everything we know, what remains undecided and how the 24-team playoff will change college football beginning in 2027.
What we know
The field
The CFP has officially adopted a 24-team format featuring five automatic qualifiers and 19 at-large selections.
The four conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC will automatically qualify, along with the highest-ranked team from the six remaining conferences: the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt.
The other 19 spots will be awarded to the highest-ranked remaining teams in the selection committee’s final rankings.
The eight highest-seeded teams will receive first-round byes, while the remaining 16 compete for the opportunity to face them in the second round.
One notable change involves Notre Dame. Under the current 12-team format, the Fighting Irish receive an automatic bid if they finish inside the committee’s top 12. Beginning in 2027, that guarantee disappears.
Notable in reporting by @CFBHeather on the CFP expansion: Notre Dame will no longer have an automatic inclusion clause if it meets a certain ranking criteria.
RIP Notre Dame Clause
Born: December 2025
Died: November 2026But what a full life it lived.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 9, 2026
Notre Dame can still qualify through one of the 19 at-large spots, but it will no longer have a special path into the field.
While doubling the playoff sounds like a massive opportunity for smaller programs, we’ll get to why that might not be entirely true.
Elimination of conference championship games
This might be the most controversial change of them all.
Beginning in 2027, the Power Four conferences will no longer hold their annual football championship games. They all announced Monday that their 2026 championship games will be their last.
THE DEATH OF CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
With the CFP officially expanding to a 24-team playoff, this year will mark the final season for conference title games. https://t.co/KhC8bEv2lg
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) November 9, 2026
The ACC is already promoting its final championship game in Charlotte, scheduled for Dec. 5, 2026.
Last one, best one 🏆
The 2026 ACC Football Championship Game marks the final annual championship game for the Conference as the CFP moves to a 24-team format. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this historic moment. Get your tickets now!
🎟️: https://t.co/V1doIP3hE1 | 🔗: https://t.co/AYQhJLXLOm
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) November 9, 2026
The decision is largely about making room for the additional playoff games.
The regular season will conclude on Thanksgiving weekend, with the final games scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 27, 2027. Although Nov. 28 has been reported as the expected Selection Sunday, the CFP has not formally announced that date.
That leaves the first weekend of December available before the expanded playoff begins.
But while the Power Four have made their decisions, the smaller conferences haven’t.
FOX Sports‘ Ben Portnoy reports that none of the Group of Six conferences had decided whether to eliminate their championship games as of Monday’s announcement.
Sources: The American, MAC, Mountain West and CUSA are undetermined on whether they will eliminate their conference title games following CFP expansion.
Those conversations are ongoing but expect some resolutions in the near future.
@CFBONFOX | @FOXSports
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) November 9, 2026
There is also a significant question about how the Power Four will determine their champions without a championship game. The Big 12 has already confirmed that its regular-season champion will receive the conference’s automatic playoff bid, while the other conferences are still finalizing their procedures.
Where the games are played
One of the more exciting changes is the massive increase in playoff games played on college campuses.
Under the new format, 16 of the 23 playoff games will take place on campus, compared to just four under the current system.
The No. 9 through 16 seeds will host the first round against seeds 17 through 24. The eight winners will then travel to face the top eight seeds, who receive a bye and host their second-round games.
Both rounds will be played between Thursday and Saturday of their respective weekends.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will remain at the six traditional CFP bowl locations: the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls.
The first 24-team national championship will take place in New Orleans on Jan. 24, 2028, followed by Tampa on Jan. 22, 2029.
ESPN and ABC will carry the expanded playoff, with ESPN retaining the ability to sublicense select games.
Army-Navy rescheduling
One of college football’s greatest traditions is also getting moved.
The annual Army-Navy Game, traditionally played on the second Saturday of December, will move to Dec. 4, 2027, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The game will retain its exclusive television window on CBS, with the CFP agreeing not to schedule playoff games against it.
The Army-Navy Game announced today that the 2027 Army-Navy Game presented by USAA, the 128th playing of America’s Game, will be played Saturday, Dec. 4 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The date change from Dec. 11 was necessitated by the CFP moving to 24 teams and starting on Dec. 9.
→ https://t.co/lCIx6Pbqmp
#ArmyNavy
— Army-Navy Game (@ArmyNavyGame) November 9, 2026
That same weekend will also feature the Heisman Trophy festivities, which have been moved up a week. The first round of the 2027 playoff is scheduled to begin Thursday, Dec. 9.
But protecting the rivalry’s television window doesn’t necessarily solve every potential scheduling issue.
Scheduling requirements
The CFP is also changing how it evaluates teams’ regular-season schedules, hoping to encourage more competitive nonconference matchups.
Under the new guidelines, each Power Four program will be expected to play at least 10 qualifying regular-season games. Conference games automatically count toward that total, as do nonconference matchups against other Power Four programs and Notre Dame.
Group of Six programs face a similar requirement, with qualifying games including conference opponents, other Group of Six programs, Power Four teams and FBS independents.
New regular-season scheduling requirements from the CFP: https://t.co/FGb19ZVBL7
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) November 9, 2026
The committee also announced that it will not give any weight to victories over more than one FCS opponent per season.
Additionally, the regular-season calendar will include two open weeks beginning in 2027, with the season starting earlier to accommodate the expanded postseason.
These changes should encourage more meaningful regular-season games rather than rewarding programs for loading up on easier opponents. Whether the committee actually follows through with rewarding those schedules is just one of the open questions.
What we don’t know
What really happens to Army-Navy?
While the game has a confirmed date, an interesting problem remains: What happens if Army or Navy qualifies for the playoff?
Under the new schedule, the rivalry will take place Dec. 4, just five days before the first playoff games begin. If either academy earns a playoff spot, its players could face a demanding turnaround before competing in the postseason.
There’s also the question of how the committee would handle the result if the playoff field has already been finalized.
The CFP says it has worked with both academies to preserve their opportunity to compete for a national championship, but the complete procedure for handling those circumstances hasn’t been outlined publicly.
For now, the tradition is protected. The finer details still need answers.
The future of CFP rankings
The selection committee might have an entirely different challenge on its hands with twice as many teams competing for a championship.
Currently, the committee releases weekly rankings of the Top 25 programs, ultimately selecting 12 teams for the playoff.
But with 24 spots available beginning next year, would revealing only the Top 25 provide enough information?
It remains to be decided how many teams the CFP will rank each week with a 24-team field.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) November 9, 2026
The new agreement maintains ESPN’s rights to the weekly CFP Top 25 rankings shows, suggesting the familiar presentation will continue.
However, the committee has not announced its complete selection and voting procedures for the expanded field.
Could the rankings eventually be adjusted to emphasize teams competing for at-large spots? How will automatic qualifiers outside the Top 25 be seeded?
With conference championship games disappearing, how much weight will the committee place on regular-season conference standings?
Those are questions worth answering before next season.
What about the little guys?
For a playoff supposedly focused on giving more programs an opportunity to compete for a national championship, the Group of Six isn’t receiving much additional protection.
Despite the field doubling, only one automatic bid is reserved for the six conferences outside the Power Four, and that spot goes to the highest-ranked eligible Group of Six team, not necessarily a conference champion.
The remaining 19 at-large spots are technically open to everyone, but there is no guarantee that another smaller-conference program will receive one.
I’ve written before about how expanding the playoff without providing smaller programs greater access could leave them in essentially the same position. That’s exactly the concern here.
Sure, an undefeated smaller program could theoretically earn an at-large bid.
But if the committee consistently values strength of schedule over win-loss records, how many of those programs are realistically going to receive favorable consideration?
What’s next?
For now, college football fans can enjoy the final season of the 12-team playoff before the sport undergoes another massive transformation.
We also have one last chance to experience the traditional Power Four conference championship games before they disappear.
There has already been considerable pushback against the expansion, including from legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who recently argued that 24 teams are simply too many and questioned sacrificing conference championships for additional playoff games.
His concerns are certainly worth considering.
The CFP has confirmed the field, automatic bids, campus games and broad scheduling structure, but there are still important questions about the selection process and how conferences will adapt.
What we do know is that college football’s postseason is about to become bigger, longer and significantly different from anything we’ve seen before.
Whether that makes the sport better remains to be seen.
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