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College Football Playoff committee executive admits they don't care fans are against 24-team playoff

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANDING TO 24 TEAMS IN 2027, WITH MORE GAMES COMING TO CAMPUSES ACROSS THE COUNTRY Then, in 2024, we moved to a 12-team format, which offered more opportunity for teams to change their season.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 1 source•1 min read•Updated November 10, 2026, 2:29 AM UTC
Key points
  • Not only will three losses not be enough to keep teams out, there's a strong chance that four or potentially even five loss teams (from the SEC) will be in the 24-team playoff.
  • Fans weren't asking for this, and surveys have shown that they overwhelmingly don't want it.
  • The 12-team format has generally been well liked; it's a solid balance of maintaining the exclusivity of the tournament, while adding more big postseason games on campuses and mostly preserving bowl season and the importance of the regular season.

Monday made what was long rumored official: we're moving to a 24-team College Football Playoff starting in the 2027-2028 season.

And in a news conference announcing the change, Executive Director Rich Clark explained why: the playoff committee doesn't care.

Additional details
  • The SEC, long the hold out, caved, presumably because commissioner Greg Sankey realized he could start campaigning for all 16 conference teams to reach the playoff each season.
  • While the upcoming 2026-2027 version of the playoff will be just the third under the expanded format, we're already moving on to even more teams.
  • Then be able to sell expensive home playoff game tickets to their fans.
  • The reaction from most fans, commentators, analysts as well as many coaches and people within the sport, can be summed up in one word: why?
  • This might mean more scheduled games between big programs, since they'll no longer be concerned about a single loss hurting their chances, but if it doesn't, the sport will have sacrificed the regular season almost entirely.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 1 article from 1 outlet

Fox NewsNovember 10, 2026, 2:29 AM UTC →

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