OFFICIAL: College Football Playoff Announces 12-Team Expansion
A new era of college football has officially begun.
With the Rose Bowl agreeing to the terms of the proposed new contract, the College Football Playoff will expand from four to 12 teams within the next three years. Currently, the projected expansion date is set for the 2024-25 season.
The College Football Playoff committee released a statement Thursday morning confirming the future expansion plans.
"We're delighted to be moving forward," Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, said in a statement. "When the board expanded the playoff beginning in 2026 and asked the CFP Management Committee to examine the feasibility of starting the new format earlier, the Management Committee went right to work. More teams and more access mean more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student-athletes. 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."
With the expanded postseason picture, 12 teams will be vying for one of the top four spots to guarantee a bye. While college football purists will say that the expansion of 12 teams will take away from the impact of the sport, No. 5-No. 8 seeds are crucial the grab in terms of location.
The first round of the CFP will be held at the home field of the higher-seeded team on its campus or another site designated by the higher-seeded school. This would mean No. 12 would play at No. 5, No. 11 would play at No. 6, No. 10 would play at No. 7, and No. 9 would play at No. 8.
The specific game dates, likely late in that week, will be announced later.
If the College Football Playoff had expanded this season, here's what the current playoff formatting would look like:
> No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 TCU, and No. 4 USC would all receive automatic bids to the Round of Eight.
> No. 12 Tulane/UCF vs. No. 5 Ohio State at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio.
> No. 11 Utah vs. No. 6 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
> No. 10 Kansas State vs. No. 7 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn.
> No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 8 Penn State at Beaver Stadium, State College, Pa.
"On behalf of the Management Committee and the Board of Managers, this is thrilling," Hancock added. "It's been a long process, but we are pleased that more teams and more students will have the opportunity to compete for the national championship beginning in the 2024 season. A new era of college football is about to begin. I look forward to it."
For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the four quarterfinal games and two semifinal games will still be played in bowls on a rotational basis similar to the current model. The 2024 quarterfinals will take place in the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the semifinals.
The 2025 quarterfinals will take place in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl will host the semifinals. Specific dates for all quarterfinal and semifinal games will be announced at a later time.
The national championship will be played Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami at Hard Rock Stadium.
"This is a great day for college football," said Mark Keenum, President of Mississippi State University and chairman of the CFP Board of Managers. "I'm glad we are able to follow through and launch the expanded playoff early. It's very exciting for schools, alumni and everyone involved."
The CFP is in the ninth season of its 12-year deal with ESPN which is set to expire following the 2025 season. For expansion to occur, all parties would have to approve the vote. Before Thursday's approval from the Rose Bowl, the 10 FBS conferences, Notre Dame and the participating New Year's Six bowls agreed on every major issue standing in the way, including playing at campus sites, dates of games and revenue distribution.
For expansion to become official, the agreement among all parties needed to be unanimous. The Rose Bowl remained hesitant due to its status as one of the premier bowls, asking for special treatment based on branding alone.
According to CBS Sports, the Rose Bowl had proposed hosting CFP quarterfinals in 2024 and 2025 -- possibly without their traditional Big Ten and Pac-12 partners -- in exchange for keeping its time slot as part of the CFP's new media rights contract starting in 2026. That offer was refused, leading to the eventual agreement signed by the bowl on Wednesday evening.
"We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future championship-game host cities for their cooperation," Hancock said in a personal statement. "Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen."
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