The College Football Playoff Will Grow to 24 Teams Next Year, and Texas Stands to Gain Room for Error

AUSTIN — The College Football Playoff will double in size to 24 teams beginning next year, college leaders announced Monday, in a change that ends the three-decade era of conference championship games and gives programs like Texas more leeway for losses on the way to a berth, according to the Austin American-Statesman's report.

The new format carries five automatic qualifiers — the champions of the Power Four leagues and the best-ranked team from the Group of Six conferences — with the other 19 teams chosen by a selection panel, the report said. Notre Dame receives no guarantees. The top eight seeds receive first-round byes, the playoff starts on the second weekend in December with the first two rounds played on campus, and traditional bowl games will still host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The first final under the format is set for January 24, 2028, in New Orleans.

ESPN agreed to rework its contract to add the 11 new games, on a five-year deal worth an additional $1.7 billion on top of the $7.8 billion contract that runs through the 2031 season, according to the report. As part of the expansion, Power Four teams must play at least 10 qualifying regular-season games, and the agreement guarantees two off weeks in a regular season that will begin the week before Labor Day.

"Opening the playoff to more programs, more student-athletes and more fan bases across the country is great for college football," said Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, the chair of the CFP board, in the statement the report carried. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, asked about the expansion on Monday ahead of his team's game at LSU, offered no comment, saying he had "bigger fish to fry." Texas was seventh in this season's first CFP rankings; the second rankings arrive tonight at 8 p.m. Central.