The College Football Playoff and ESPN have signed a five-year deal worth $1.7 billion that will expand the playoff teams to 24 beginning next season. The expansion will lead to conference championship games being eliminated.
The 24-team field will include four conference champions as determined by each league. The other spots will go to the highest-ranked Group of 6 teams and 19 at-large teams.
The top eight teams will have a bye and the first two rounds of the playoffs will be held at the campus of the higher seed. The playoff will begin on the second weekend in December in 2027 and the national championship game will still be on January 24th, 2028 in New Orleans.
The college football season will now begin for all teams before Labor Day and the regular season will end on Thanksgiving weekend.
