By The College Football Playoff is on the verge of doubling in size. According to ESPN insiders Pete Thamel and Heather Dinich, the CFP has reached a “handshake agreement” with ESPN to broadcast an expanded 24-team playoff beginning with the 2027 season.
The development follows a 30-day exclusive negotiating window between the two sides that closed on October 9. While final approvals and paperwork remain, the report marks a decisive step toward the biggest postseason shakeup in college football history.
College Football Playoff (Credits: ESPN)
How the 24-Team Field Would Work
Discussions have centered on a format with 19 at-large bids, the Power 4 conference champions, and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team. Under the proposed structure, teams seeded No. 1 through 8 would earn a first-round bye followed by a home game, while seeds 9-16 would host opening-round matchups.
CFP executive director Rich Clark has said second-round games would “most likely” be played on college campuses. The regular season would begin in what is currently Week 0 and end on Thanksgiving weekend, with a bye week on the first Saturday of December expected to replace conference championship games.
ESPN’s Big Bet
ESPN is finalizing a deal to purchase the additional games through the 2031 season, matching the length of its current rights agreement. The network currently pays an average of $1.3 billion per year for the playoff. The New Year’s Six bowls — Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, Orange, and Cotton — are expected to continue hosting the quarterfinals and semifinals, with the national championship game remaining in January.
Even the SEC, long seen as the last holdout on expansion, has reportedly thrown its support behind the move. The message is clear: the postseason is about to get much, much bigger.
The expansion would reshape the sport’s calendar from top to bottom. The regular season would begin in what is currently Week 0 and wrap up on Thanksgiving weekend, with conference championship games expected to disappear entirely — a seismic loss of revenue and tradition for the Power 4 leagues. In their place, a bye week on the first Saturday of December would separate the regular season from the playoff.
For fans, the payoff is enormous: more meaningful November football, first-round games on raucous college campuses, and a bracket big enough that bubble debates become seeding battles. If the handshake holds, 2026 will be remembered as the last year of the old order.
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Source: ESPN — read the full story there.
