College Football Playoff to expand to twelve teams
The Football Bowl Subdivision’s postseason tournament could grow as soon as 2024.
The National Championship Trophy is shown during day one of Big Ten Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Thursday, July 22. Indianapolis is set to host the College Football Playoffs in 2022.
September 2, 2022
The College Football Playoff’s executive board has voted unanimously to expand the CFP by 2026 at the latest. The 11-person board, made up of presidents and chancellors from each of the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame President John Jenkins, needed to unanimously decide to expand if the playoff were to get bigger before its current television contracts with ESPN expire in 2025.
According to Sports Illustrated, fans should expect a twelve-team, tournament-style playoff. The six highest-ranked league champions of the 10 FBS conferences will receive automatic tournament bids. The event’s top four seeds will receive first-round byes. The other six playoff teams will be determined via at-large, committee-decided bids.
College Football Playoff expansion comes in the wake of USC and UCLA’s decision to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024. Texas and Oklahoma agreed to join the SEC when their current Big 12 media contracts expire in 2025.
Conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick are expected to meet in Dallas next week, per SI. The group will reportedly attempt to hammer out remaining details related to expansion like media rights deals and the role of the Rose Bowl going forward.
