College Football Playoff expanding to 24 teams: 2027 move has big impact on conference championships, Heisman

The College Football Playoff is officially expanding to a 24-team format for the 2027 season, sources told CBS Sports. The field will use a "19+4+1" model with 19 at-large bids, four reserved for Power Four champions and one for the highest-rated Group of Six champ. First- and second-round games would be played on campuses, while quarterfinals and semifinals will continue in traditional bowls such as the Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl.

The expansion will eliminate conference championship games. The SEC originated the conference championship game in 1992, and last year's Alabama-Georgia SEC Championship averaged 16.9 million viewers. The SEC announced that its 2026 conference title game would be its last. The Heisman Trophy ceremony will move up a week to the first weekend of December, happening December 3-5 in 2027.

The Big Ten pushed for a 24-team field while SEC commissioner Greg Sankey favored a 12- or 16-team structure that would preserve his conference's championship game. In January, CBS Sports reported that the ACC, Big 12 and SEC all preferred a 16-team format, but by May the ACC and Big 12 had shifted to support 24 teams, leaving the SEC as the lone power conference dissenter. The breakthrough came in September when both leagues agreed to evaluate the larger bracket.

CFP executives expected to seek roughly $70 million to $80 million above the nearly $250 million combined value of conference championship games, putting the potential additional annual rights fee at more than $320 million on top of ESPN's existing agreement, which averages $1.3 billion annually. CBS Sports also reported the CFP could offer an additional $320 million on top of the current contract, which averages $1.2 billion per year.

The Army-Navy game will move a week up in 2027 to December 4 to avoid competing with playoff games expected to start Thursday, December 9. President Trump signed an executive order in March to ensure the game's exclusive window. Navy AD Michael Kelly said the CFP leadership collaborated to preserve the exclusive broadcast window while ensuring Navy has a path to compete in the playoff.