How the 24-Team College Football Playoff Works
The College Football Playoff grows from 12 teams to 24 starting with the 2027 season. The CFP approved it on Nov. 9, 2026, so this season's playoff is still 12 teams.
For this season, see the 12-team bracket if the playoff started today and when the next CFP rankings come out.
Who gets into the 24-team playoff?
Four spots go to the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC champions, as each league decides them. One goes to the highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt, and it doesn't have to be a champion. The other 19 spots go to the highest-ranked teams left in the committee's final ranking.
Notre Dame and the other independents aren't on the automatic list. They get in by ranking high enough.
Who gets a first-round bye?
Seeds #1 through #8 get a bye and host a second-round game on their own campus. Seeds #9 through #16 host first-round games against #17 through #24.
The CFP's announcement doesn't say how the 24 teams will be seeded or how the first-round games will be paired.
Who would make the 24-team playoff from the latest CFP ranking?
If next year's rules were used on the committee's Nov. 10 ranking, our projection gives first-round byes to Georgia, Utah, Alabama, UCLA, Notre Dame, Texas, Miami and Tennessee. #25 Oklahoma State would be the only ranked team left out.
This is our projection, not the CFP's. We treat each conference's highest-ranked team as its champion, seed the 24 teams in ranking order, and pair #9 with #24, #10 with #23, and so on.
Byes: seeds 1 to 8
- 1 Georgia 8-1
- 2 Utah 9-0
- 3 Alabama 7-2
- 4 UCLA 9-0
- 5 Notre Dame 8-1
- 6 Texas 7-2
- 7 Miami 8-1
- 8 Tennessee 7-2
First round, at the higher seed
- 24 Boise State 8-1 at
9 Indiana 8-1 - 23 Arizona 7-2 at
10 BYU 7-2 - 22 Missouri 6-3 at
11 Kentucky 7-2 - 21 LSU 6-3 at
12 Texas Tech 8-1 - 20 Ohio State 6-3 at
13 Wake Forest 8-1 - 19 Ole Miss 6-3 at
14 Houston 7-2 - 18 USC 7-2 at
15 Iowa 7-2 - 17 South Carolina 6-3 at
16 Oregon 6-3
Where are the playoff games played?
There are 23 games in all. The first and second rounds are on the higher seed's campus, which makes 16 campus games, up from four now. The quarterfinals and semifinals stay at the six big bowls: the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar.
First- and second-round games are played Thursday through Saturday. No playoff game will be scheduled against Army-Navy.
When does the 24-team playoff start?
With the 2027 season. The 2027 regular season ends Saturday, Nov. 27, and the playoff starts the first full week of December. The first 24-team title game is Monday, Jan. 24, 2028, in New Orleans.
Every playoff team gets an open week before the first round, and the top eight get two. Selection Day for 2027 hasn't been announced. This season's 12-team title game is Monday, Jan. 25, 2027, in Las Vegas.
How many teams with four or more losses would have made it?
37 since 2014, counting the champions who won their title games. We ran every final committee ranking from 2014 to 2025 through the new rules, and a team with four or more losses would have made the field in 10 of those 12 seasons.
The worst records were 8-5. Northwestern was #22 in the 2018 final ranking. In 2025, Duke won the ACC title game to finish 8-5 and unranked, and it would have taken the spot of #24 James Madison. Without title games, Virginia led the ACC at 7-1 and was already #19, so the count would be 36. Of the 288 spots, 126 (44%) would have gone to teams with three or more losses. Records are from the day of each final ranking, before the bowls.
Are conference title games going away?
The CFP leaves that to each conference. News reports say the ACC and SEC will stop playing title games after this season.
If more leagues drop them, ties for first will come up often. Since 2014, 16 of 48 league seasons in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC ended with two or more teams tied for first in the standings, not counting title games. Last season, four SEC teams tied at 7-1: Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
What changes in the regular season?
Starting in 2027, every season has two open weeks. ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC schools are expected to play at least 10 games against each other or Notre Dame, and conference games count. FCS games don't count toward the 10. Schools in the other six leagues are expected to play 10 games against teams from the 10 leagues, Notre Dame or other independents.
The committee won't give credit for more than one win over an FCS team in a season. The CFP can waive these rules only in extraordinary circumstances.
Who will show the 24-team playoff on TV?
ESPN has every game through the 2031-32 season, and it can pass some games to other networks. At least three first-round and three second-round games will be on ABC. The CFP didn't share the price.
Source: the College Football Playoff's Nov. 9, 2026 announcement and fact sheet. The loss and tie counts are our own, from the committee's final rankings (2014-2025) and CollegeFootballData game results. Title games ending is reported, not official. Updated Nov. 10, 2026.