The College Football Playoff will be expanded in 2024 to include eight additional teams, the playoff management committee announced on Thursday.
The new format will consist of 12 total teams, with slots for the six highest-ranked conference champions, as well as six at-large slots for the best remaining teams. This introduces an interesting wrinkle to the often-repetitive playoff, as at least one non-power five team is guaranteed a bid.
“More teams and more access means more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student athletes,” CFP director Bill Hancock said in a statement. “We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future national championship game host cities for their cooperation. Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen.”
The expansion was first announced in September to begin in 2026. CFP’s Management Committee had aimed for an earlier start, but the Rose Bowl remained as a final holdout over a disagreement on television time slots. Traditionally, the Rose Bowl has always been guaranteed its preferred time slot of 2 p.m. PST / 5 p.m. ET, ensuring the sun would set over the San Gabriel Mountains during the game. But as reported by ESPN yesterday, the Rose Bowl was essentially given an ultimatum: give up their guaranteed time or give up their role in the playoff.
“We’re partners with the Rose Bowl and I have great respect for the Rose Bowl,” Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said in an interview with ESPN. “I didn’t take it at all personal that they were holding anything up. They’ve been one of the key components of the college football postseason championship, from the BCS to the CFP.”
Home playoff games will also make their debut to the CFP under the new format. The expansion provides four byes for the four highest-ranked conference champions. The next four highest-ranked teams will host first-round matchups in their home stadiums (or another site of their choice) for advancement to the quarter finals, which will take place at “contract bowls” like the Rose Bowl.
The decision should provide a bit of solace for Trojan fans who are worried about USC’s future in the Big Ten. The new format is the first one which makes it feasible for non-conference champions to win a national championship, meaning that USC will have room for error to make the playoffs in their first year as a member of a more competitive conference.
The new format provides more teams with a fair shot at the playoff by reducing the drastic impact of conference championships. If the new format were to be applied to this year’s rankings, three total teams from the Big Ten — Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State — would compete in the playoff.
This fixes a long-criticized flaw in the current CFP system: under the current four-team format, a team that does not play in their conference’s championship can gain advantage over a team that makes the championship, but loses. This essentially punishes some teams for earning a berth in their conference championship, as they would’ve been better off not participating to avoid an additional loss.
For example, if either TCU or USC were to lose their conference championship games this weekend, Ohio State would make the playoff without even competing for, let alone winning, a Big Ten title. Under the new format, Ohio State would have already clinched a playoff spot regardless, and neither USC or TCU would be at risk of losing their slot with a loss in their respective conference championships.
“A new era of college football is about to begin,” said Hancock. “I look forward to it.”