ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF
The College Football Playoff will officially expand from four to 12 teams starting in the 2024-2025 season.
The tournament board of directors approved the expansion Thursday.
https://twitter.com/CFBPlayoff/status/1598347965143420931
The Original Plan For College Football Playoff Expansion
The plan for the 12-team playoff was originally supposed to go into effect in 2026. However, the board asked the College Football Management Committee to find a way to implement the expansion for the 2024-2025 season.
The Rose Bowl
The reason this news is coming now is because the Rose Bowl has become more flexible.
The Rose Bowl would host one of the quarterfinal games. Usually the Rose Bowl hosts Big Ten and Pac-12 teams, but this would not necessarily be the case if they hosted a College Football Playoff game.
The Rose Bowl is flexible when it comes to that, but they want to continue holding its historic 2 P.M. PT Jan 1 timeslot. The CFP cannot make any promises to fulfill that ask, but the Rose Bowl will hold that time slot in 2024 and 2025.
For 2026 and beyond, it is uncertain what time slot the Rose Bowl will get, but Laura Farber, the chair of the Rose Bowl says it intends to keep the Jan 1 spot, but will be flexible.
How The College Football Playoff Would Look This Year
The new format will include the selection committees six highest-ranked conference champions and the next six highest-ranked teams.
If the 12-team playoff started this year, Ohio State, Alabama, Tennessee, Penn State, Clemson, Kansas State, Utah and Tulane would join Georgia, Michigan, TCU and USC. The top four teams would get a bye week, while the other eight fight it out to reach the semifinals.
The National Championship
The format may be changing, but the national championship location is not.
In 2025, Atlanta will host the CFP national championship while Miami will have the honors in 2026.
This year, the national championship will be held in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
