Another expansion of the College Football Playoff is imminent according to ESPN.
“The College Football Playoff is nearing a deal to expand to 24 teams, per sources,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on X Thursday. “The new format will start in 2027 and is expected to come together in the near future, pending final approvals.”
The move to a 24 teams CFP is expected to have a meaningful impact on both the Big Ten and Indiana.
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti has said multiple times a 24-team playoff will mark the end of the Big Ten Championship game. This year’s edition at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is likely to be the last.
And the Big Ten is also likely to require that its members add a Power 4 opponent to the nonconference schedule.
“If we get the 24-team playoff, you are going to see many more competitive games scheduled,” Petitti said last week. “We’ll commit to that. We don’t need to say we’ll do it. We’ll actually commit to doing it. We’re spending a lot of time trying to prepare for that.”
Indiana has agreements in place through 2030 for nonconference games. The Hoosiers are slated to face 12 non-Power 4 opponents in those games from 2027 through 2030. It’s not clear how soon a Power 4 nonconference game will be mandated. Petitti acknowledge it may take time to unwind previously agreed to nonconference games to make room for a Power 4 opponent.
In a story at ESPN, Thamel says discussions about the 24-team field have included 19 at-large bids, the Power 4 conference champions as determined by each league and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team.
The anticipated model includes incentives that are expected to keep the regular season games meaningful.
“Under the proposed plan, teams seeded Nos. 1 through 8 would earn a first-round bye followed by a home game. (The No. 1 seed would face the winner of No. 16 vs. No. 17, the No. 2 seed would face the winner of No. 15 vs. No. 18 and so on),” Thamel wrote. “Teams hovering around No. 17 and No. 18 would want to move up so they can host a first-round home game (awarded to teams seeded Nos. 9-16), while teams at the bottom are constantly trying to stay in the field or protect their spot.”
The change in 2027 will come just three years after the CFP expanded from four teams to 12. Indiana has reached the CFP each of the last two years and it won the 2025 CFP championship.
