Why College Football Playoff is 'closer than ever' to significantly growing size of field
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Why College Football Playoff is 'closer than ever' to significantly growing size of field originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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College football is now in Year 3 of the 12-team playoff era, a change that, for the most part, has been positively received as more teams have contended for the national title. But fans likely shouldn't get too comfortable with the size of the playoff field.
Rumors and reports have indicated for months that leadership across NCAA and college football have shown interest in increasing the size of the College Football Playoff field yet again — and on Wednesday, there were plenty of signs that it will soon become a reality.
Nothing is set in stone quite yet, but based on the latest conversations and reports, it's only a matter of time before the CFP is significantly increased in size.
Here's the latest on whether the CFP will increase its field size.
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Why College Football Playoff is 'closer than ever' to growing size of field
Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported on Wednesday that leaders for the CFP met at the Big Ten headquarters in Chicago, where they took another step toward making a 24-team playoff a reality.
According to Dellenger, there is a consensus among those leaders that "a doubling of the postseason feels like a foregone conclusion."
"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]," CFP executive director Rich Clark said, per Yahoo Sports.
According to Heather Dinich, there remain "questions looming" about the logistics, and no votes were taken in relation to a 24-team field.
"I think we've worked through a lot of the other issues that are associated with expansion, and those things needed to happen before we started any kind of a negotiation," Clark said, per ESPN. "[Money] is not the only consideration, but right now it is an unknown because we have no idea what the revenue that could be generated is."
It was in August 2025 that the Big Ten first proposed a 24-team field, with those talks "accelerating" this summer. The SEC previously opposed a 24-team field, while the ACC, Big 12 and Notre Dame "shifted positions from 16 to 24 teams in March," according to Dellenger.
Now, CFP executives have entered a 30-day window to negotiate the logistics of an expanded field with ESPN, and aspects like scheduling, the impact on league championship games, etc. is being discussed.
Under a potential 24-team field, per Yahoo, the new eight first-round games would "ideally" start a week after the regular season ends, Clark said. Then, the eight second-round games would "most likely" be played on the campus of the top seed in the third week of December.
One of the leading aspects is the financial impact of eliminating conference championship games — an estimated cost of $250 million, per Dellenger, that the conferences would be looking to recoup in the CFP.
"The revenue is an unknown," Clark said, per Yahoo. "That's why we're in this negotiating window."
CFP executives and ESPN reportedly have until Oct. 9 to come to terms about the logistics of the 24-team field. If not, officials will take it to the "open market," per Dellenger.
"I certainly would say we reserve the right to use the whole window," Clark said, per ESPN. "It is detailed and in-depth, and there's a lot of issues to cover. It's a 30-day window for a reason, and we may need to use it all.
For now, there's nothing set in stone — but all signs point to a 24-team playoff arriving at some point in the seasons to come.
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