Forget the 12-team College Football Playoff you just got used to, because college football leaders are already lining up to double the field to 24 teams, and they are calling it a “foregone conclusion.” Reports broke Wednesday that the powers-that-be are pushing hard for yet another massive expansion to the postseason, making the current 12-team setup look like a mere pit stop. Nothing is officially set in stone, but based on the latest talks, it is only a matter of time before the CFP field blows up again.
The Consensus In Chicago Has Everyone Buzzing
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported Wednesday that leaders from the College Football Playoff met up at the Big Ten headquarters in Chicago. What came out of that meeting? A huge step toward making a 24-team playoff a real thing. Dellenger’s report indicates there is a serious consensus among these leaders. They truly feel like “a doubling of the postseason feels like a foregone conclusion.” CFP executive director Rich Clark confirmed they have been grinding on the non-money issues. “We’ve worked through a lot of the other issues associated with [a 24-team] expansion and those things needed to happen before we started any kind of negotiation [over money],” Clark said, according to Yahoo Sports. This whole 24-team idea? The Big Ten actually proposed it way back in August 2025, and those talks have only sped up this summer. While the SEC was against a 24-team field before, the ACC, Big 12, and Notre Dame totally changed their minds from 16 to 24 teams in March, Dellenger reported.
Money, Logistics, And A Whole New Calendar
Of course, there are still some big “questions looming” about the logistics, as Heather Dinich noted, and no votes have been officially cast for a 24-team field. Clark was upfront about the financial side too, telling ESPN that while money is not the *only* thing they consider, it is an “unknown” right now because nobody has a real handle on the revenue it could generate. Now, CFP executives have entered a 30-day window to negotiate all the details of an expanded field with ESPN. They are hammering out everything: scheduling, how this impacts league championship games, and all the rest. Under this potential 24-team monster, Yahoo reported that the eight new first-round games would “ideally” kick off a week after the regular season wraps up, Clark said. Then, we are looking at eight second-round games, “most likely” played right on the campus of the top seeds in the third week of December. They are even talking about the financial hit from eliminating conference championship games, which is an “estimated cost of $”.
So, while the ink is not dry yet, it feels like college football is on the verge of its next massive shake-up. Get ready for a lot more football, a lot more drama, and a postseason that will probably feel wilder than ever. That 30-day window with ESPN is gonna be huge.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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