The Big Ten didn’t get its wish of a 24-team College Football Playoff field starting in 2026, but that isn’t deterring the conference from pushing for its goal.
The Big Ten reportedly shared an internal document detailing how it sees a 24-team CFP playing out with the conference’s athletic directors and head coaches. ESPN also received a copy of the document, reporting on the details.
The document, which the conference is referring to as the “24 team CFP Format Compromise,” wants to see the CFP expand to 16 teams for 2027 and 2028 and to 24 teams no later than the 2029 season.
The Southeastern Conference reportedly was willing to grow the field to 16 teams for the upcoming season, but the Big Ten would only agree if the SEC agreed to a future 24-team playoff in the near future — which the SEC refused to do.
In the proposed 16-team format, there would be five automatic bids and 11 at-large spots. The bottom four teams would play the second weekend of December, No. 13 vs. No. 16 and No. 14 vs. No. 15.
There would then be six on-campus games in the next round, with the top-two seeds earning byes to the quarterfinals held at traditional New Year’s Six bowl locations on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
That would align with a mid-January national title game, much like it has the last few seasons. It would maintain conference championship games the first weekend of December.
Those would not remain in the proposed 24-team format, which would not have any automatic bids, according to the Big Ten’s vision.
Instead of conference title games, the top eight teams would receive byes while the remaining 16 would play on-campus games, ideally the second weekend of December.
That would be followed by eight more on-campus second-round games, hosted by the eight teams who earned first-round byes.
Like the current format, quarterfinals would be played around New Year’s, semifinals the following week and a mid-January national championship would follow.
The Big Ten also believes that regular-season rematches should be avoided in this 24-team format, although conference opponents who didn’t face off that season could be paired up for opening-round games.
Much of the Big Ten’s desire for a larger playoff stems from its belief that a larger field would allow for more room for error.
“In today’s transfer portal/player movement era, teams may lose a game or two early and gel together later in the season — more playoff opportunities late provides an appropriate safety net,” the Big Ten’s document said.
The debate about expansion will rage without a likely resolution in the coming months. ESPN has mandated a Dec. 1 deadline in order for the 2027 CFP format to be finalized.
