College Football Playoff to expand to 12 teams in 2024 as Rose Bowl winds down: Sources

• The decision would allow the CFP to expand to 12 teams in time for the 2024 season.
• In September, the chairmen and advisors who make up the CFP Board of Directors approved the 12-team model that was initially proposed in June 2021 but was delayed due to disagreements among the commissioners.
• The Board then called on these commissioners to reopen discussions about the possibility of implementing a 12-team model before 2026, when the initial CFP contract expires.

background

The Rose Bowl wanted assurances from CFP leadership that its game would continue at 5 PM ET on New Year’s Day in an exclusive broadcast window. He wanted that precious time even in years when the Rose Bowl wasn’t a CFP quarterfinal game, which would throw a wrench in the calendar and the way the new postseason would function. This confirmation will also be a special treat that no other pot will receive.

The Rose Bowl’s refusal to break his existing contract, which runs through the 2025-26 season, would have ended any expansion hopes early.

“The Rose Bowl continues to be open to the possibility of early expansion of the current playoff game. While we requested specific contract guarantees in our initial discussions with the College Football Playoff, we remain open to those discussions,” game organizers said in a statement to the Associated Press at the time. earlier in November. “We have no intention of being the only barrier that will prevent expansion from happening before the end of its current cycle.”

Laura Farber, Chair of the Rose Bowl Steering Committee ESPN said. “While we are ready to work through certain regions, we have confirmed that the January 1 exclusive broadcast window at 2pm PT is important to the Rose Bowl.”

What would this look like (probably)

So, we know the basic framework for the 12-team CFP, because that’s what was approved earlier this fall. The top 6 ranked FBS champions will be guaranteed access, and the remaining 6 places will go to the top big teams. The top four seeds will receive first-round endorsements and numbers 5-8 will host on-campus matches in the first round. The rest of the rounds will be played at the bowl locations.

The dates for first-round games in 2024 and 2025 haven’t quite closed yet — and they can’t even sign ESPN on them and figure out their TV windows — but so far, it’s expected to happen the third weekend of December, two weeks after the conference championship games, Which will be played on Friday and Saturday. This means that some games will compete head to head NFL Regular season games are played on Saturdays.

The calendar for the new CFP contract will likely change starting in 2026; If the entire season moves into what is now referred to as Week 0, that relieves some of the pressure on the back end of postseason scheduling. The problems associated with 2026 and beyond will be resolved in the future. – Auerbach

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(Photo: Maxx Wolfson/Getty Images)