Joel Klatt gives take on a potential 24-team playoff in college football

Joel Klatt says the sport's expanded postseason has only been good for college football — and he's now exploring the path to go even further. On The Joel Klatt Show, the FOX analyst walked through a 24-team College Football Playoff concept that's begun to circulate among power brokers ahead of a Dec. 1 decision window on any post-2026 format changes.

"Unequivocally, the growth of the playoff has been great for college football... They're raising money, their stadiums are full, fan bases are engaged. All of this is good for the sport," Klatt said, arguing that broader access has already paid off under the new 12-team era.

The structure Klatt described has a couple of tweaks but it is fairly straightforward: four automatic bids from each Power-4 conference (Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, ACC), two automatic bids from the non-power "Group of 6," and six at-large selections from the CFP committee — 24 teams total. The top eight seeds get byes, and crucially, the first two rounds are played on campus at the higher-seed's home field.

"Any change to the playoff... needs to minimize the committee and create better roads of access rather than selection... You need to get more [playoff] games on campus," Klatt said.

Klatt addressed the timeline of the decision when giving his pitch for the 24-team playoff. "The powers that be would have to agree on a new format by early December. So we're about T-minus 40 days here," Klatt said, referencing the same Dec. 1 marker multiple outlets have reported as ESPN’s deadline to be notified of any 2026-onward changes. If there's no agreement, the playoff stays at 12.

Klatt's access-first emphasis is one of his main pillars when discussing future changes to college football and the playoff. The current 12-team format guarantees bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions with seven at-large selections; the top four conference champs get byes and first-round games are on campus. With Klatt's new format, there would be more automatic bids and because of that change in formatting, the CFP committee would have less influence than it does currently.

It would also, in his argument, increase the importance of conference matchups since Power 4 teams would have a greater incentive — and ability — to grab one of the autobids for their conference. Also, with the expanded playoff, teams would have a greater margin for error, giving teams a chance to play tougher non-conference games without a punishment that outweighs the reward. The out of conference resume would also be a deciding factor in the at-large bids decided by the committee.

"I think defining the path would make more teams relevant. It would make more games relevant deep into the season... You need to increase the number of valuable regular-season games, both in the non-conference and in conference," he said, adding that rewarding top-four finishes inside each power conference would raise the stakes.

Reporting this fall shows commissioners still split on size and auto-bid allocations, from status-quo 12 to 16, with some Big Ten-driven talk of 24 or even 28. But regardless of where leaders land, Klatt's model is anchored to four pillars — less committee discretion, clearer access, stronger regular-season incentives, and more on-campus playoff football — that he argues would keep building the sport's momentum.

Klatt's 24-team CFP bracket (end of season projection)

(24) Tulane at (9) Miami (FL)
(23) Arizona State at (10) Vanderbilt
(22) Illinois at (11) BYU
(21) Cincinnati at (12) Notre Dame
(20) LSU at (13) Oklahoma
(19) Louisville at (14) Texas Tech
(18) USF at (15) Missouri
(17) Tennessee at (16) Virginia

(1) Ohio State
(2) Indiana
(3) Texas A&M
(4) Alabama
(5)Georgia
(6) Oregon
(7) Georgia Tech
(8) Ole Miss

Klatt's 24-team CFP bracket (end of season projection)

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