College Football Playoff leaders are making serious moves toward expanding the sport’s postseason to 24 teams, a shift that increasingly feels like a foregone conclusion, even if it is not being publicly stated yet. This past Wednesday, in a meeting hosted by the Big Ten in a Chicago suburb, the powers that be in college football took another concrete step down that long, winding road to a much bigger playoff.
The Twisty Road to a 24-Team Bracket
Listen, this 24-team playoff idea isn’t new, but it’s really picked up steam. The Big Ten originally pitched this whole 24-team model way back last August. What a journey it has been since then, right? We saw the SEC staunchly oppose the format last fall, only for the Big Ten to turn around and block a 16-team expansion in January.
But things are always changing in this sport! By March, the ACC, Big 12, and even Notre Dame shifted their positions, moving from wanting 16 teams to being on board with 24. Then, just last month, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey circulated his own requirements for expansion. That’s a huge signal that even the SEC is open to a 24-team field, though he’s requiring all power league teams to play 10 games against power conference programs. Now, here in Chicago, CFP executives held their first in-person gathering since they decided to jump into a 30-day negotiating window with ESPN for this expanded field. They’re talking schedules, logistics, and even the elimination of league championship games, all with ESPN prepping their formal offer.
What This Monster 24-Team Playoff Could Look Like
This whole thing is getting real, real fast. CFP executive director Rich Clark wasn’t shy when asked, laying out some of the potential schedule for a 24-team field. The plan? Eight first-round games would “ideally” kick off a week after the regular season wraps up, totally clearing out that open week where those conference championship games usually sit. And get this: the eight second-round games are “most likely” going to be played on the campus of the higher seed in the third week of December. Campus games in December? Yes, please!
Clark summed it up with a quote that tells you everything: “If we can get a decent deal, we are definitely going to 24.” That sounds like a man who knows what’s coming. Do you really think these execs are spending hundreds of hours on logistics just to walk away? Nah, not a chance.
The October 9th Deadline and a $250 Million Question
While the logistics sound awesome, it all comes down to cold, hard cash. One CFP stakeholder flat out told Yahoo Sports that “the money is there.” But it’s not that simple. The single biggest factor here is whether the power leagues can make up the revenue they’ll lose by cutting their conference championship games. That figure? It’s believed to be at least $250 million. Yikes! Clark himself admitted, “The revenue is an unknown. That’s why we’re in this negotiating window.”
So, the clock is ticking hard for these CFP bigwigs and ESPN, with that October 9th deadline staring them right in the face. They’ve got to come to terms by then, or CFP officials are taking their 24-team product to the open market. After that, there’s another crucial deadline: December 1st. That’s when expansion absolutely has to be determined if we’re going to see a new playoff in 2027. Oh, and one last thing for the schedule nerds: they’re still figuring out the Army-Navy game, which is traditionally the second Saturday in December. It might have to move up a week to the first Saturday.
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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