Imagining what a 24-team College Football Playoff might look like in 2026

Despite the expansion to 12 teams in 2024 The College Football Playoff is reportedly interested in relocating in a group of 24 teams. The change won’t happen before the 2026 season begins, but with it still being discussed, the possibility remains in play.

The College Football Playoff the committee is still working out the kinks in its 12-team format, which has already caused some concern. Many criticize the format of the tournament, which seemingly punishes the top four teams with a first-round bye.

The eight teams that secured a top-four seed and a first-round bye in the last two years are a combined 1-7. The 2025 Indiana team, which became the first to go 16-0 in the 12-team College Football Playoff era, is the lone exception.

Needless to say, the 12-team pool is far from perfect, which makes another expansion seem premature. Yet that’s exactly what happened in 2024, when the playoffs grew from four teams to 12.

While still at least a year away from the College Football Playoff’s second format change, here’s what the 24-team bracket would look like in 2025 and 2026.

Each conference receives an offer

If the playoffs expand to 24 teams, each conference will likely receive an automatic bid. Automatic bids were realized when the field expanded to 12 teams in 2024, and doubling that number would create more than enough room for all 11 conferences to make the playoffs.

Although there were only 10 conferences in 2025, the Pac-12 is slated to return in 2026, expanding the field to 11.

The current field just guarantees that it is the five highest-ranked conference champions make a field, including the offer of the Group of Five. That left unranked Duke, the 2025 ACC Championship winner, out of the field in favor of No. 24 James Madison last season.

If every conference had an automatic bid, like in college basketball, both Duke and James Madison would be included. It would also include Mountain West champion Boise State, MAC champion Western Michigan and Conference USA champion Kennesaw State.

Giving every league a bid would not guarantee any seed. In fact, no conference champion would be assigned a higher seed. Winning the conference championship game awards a bid, but seeding would be done separately when the field is set, much like March Madness.

The modern format of the 12-team College Football Playoff then awards at-large bids to the seven highest-ranked non-champions. An expanded field of 24 teams would increase that number to 13.

Creating such a rule opens the door for more upsets and mayhem in the postseason. It could also finally force Notre Dame to join a conference to compete for a bid.

Formation of the 24-team College Football Playoff

The most difficult aspect of the 24-team College Football Playoff would be working out its format. That hurdle is likely to be the biggest barrier to potential expansion and the last barrier to be broken if it ever happens.

Any changes in format would will likely have to eliminate a first round byegiven the immediate reactions and criticisms. At the very least, higher-seeded teams granted byes should get home-field advantage in their first appearances, much like the NFL.

The 24-team bracket can include multiple bowl games, which already have pre-determined neutral sites. However, he could simply create more of his own games to give more teams the home field advantage.

Without any byes, the 24-team field could break down in a few different ways. There could simply be one group with each holder of no. 1 through No. 24, pitting the top-ranked team against the no. 24 and no. 2 with the number 23, and so on.

The field could also be divided into two groups of 12 teams, with the winners of each group in the national championship game.

On the same wavelength, the 24-team College Football Playoff could consist of four six-team brackets to mimic a mini-football version of March Madness.

The College Football Playoff committee could also hold first-round matchups, even with a 24-team field. In that case, eight teams would receive an extended break, while the other 16 would participate in first-round playoff games.

In either case, the College Football Playoff format would have to change to accommodate 12 more teams. But with the doubling of the field, scheduling would be another issue on the sports calendar.

The timetable would change

Doubling the field for the 2026 College Football Playoff would force the tournament to either start earlier or end later. Each possibility presents its own set of potential problems.

In 2025, the 12-team bracket began on December 19, two weeks after the conference title games. Shifting that date by a week would disrupt a long-standing tradition giving the Army-Navy game its own week. President Trump recently stepped it up by ordering a four-hour exclusive window for the famous rivalry game.

Although the bowl game already exists on the same day as Army-Navy, starting the playoffs on the same week essentially removes both teams from contention.

Moving the National Championship Game back to accommodate more games could be just as problematic, as the NFL playoffs typically begin right after the college football playoffs end. The NFL and college football coexist year-round, but with the NFL spreading its playoff games over the weekend, scheduling would become an issue.

That scenario would either force the NFL and college football to compete or the latter would schedule college playoff games earlier in the week. Both are viable options, but neither is ideal for television ratings.

A third option would be to start the entire college football season earlier, which would coincide with the weekend when college students typically move in. However, college athletes are already on campus by then, but the timing could be difficult for what is already a busy time in the academic calendar.

The most likely scenario is that the college football season is extended and inserted into the NFL playoff calendar. It could also force changes to the entire season’s schedule to avoid potential conflicts with the Super Bowl entirely.