The future of the College Football Playoff may be far larger than its current 12-team format. As it stands, the blueprint is already being circulated behind the scenes by the Big Ten.

According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the conference has distributed an internal document outlining a potential path to a 24-team playoff, complete with a timeline, the removal of conference championship games and significantly more on-campus postseason games. 

While nothing is official, the proposal offers the clearest look yet at how the sport’s power brokers envision expansion beyond the current model. Check out what a 24-team playoff for this past season would’ve looked like below, via Thamel.

Alas, the document circulating details a gradual approach. The Big Ten’s preferred timeline would first expand the playoff to 16 teams in 2027 and 2028 before jumping to 24 teams no later than the 2029 season. That larger format would run through the end of the current CFP television contract in 2031, after which another round of negotiations could reshape the postseason again.

In the interim 16-team format, five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large bids would make up the bracket. The top two seeds would earn first-round byes, while the opening round would begin on the second weekend of December with on-campus games. From there, later rounds would move to traditional bowl sites on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day before a mid-January national championship game.

The true overhaul arrives with the proposed 24-team model. Instead of automatic qualifiers, the field would consist of the 23 highest-ranked teams plus one guaranteed spot for the Group of Six. The top eight seeds would receive byes, followed by two full rounds of home playoff games on campus. That’s a major emphasis of the proposal, serving as a response to criticism that top teams in the current system don’t always receive meaningful home-field advantage.

Additionally, the format would also intentionally avoid first-round rematches from the regular season when possible. Quarterfinals and semifinals would still be held at bowl sites, with the championship again slated for mid-January.

Meanwhile, the most controversial element is eliminating conference championship games entirely. The document describes those games as “artificial” and argues conferences that play them assume unnecessary risk compared to leagues whose teams can still reach the playoff without that extra matchup.

The Big Ten also believes expansion would increase late-season relevance, noting teams that improve over time, particularly in the transfer portal era, would still have viable postseason paths. An expanded bracket would also create 23 total playoff games, up from 11 currently, opening additional media rights opportunities and increasing national engagement.

With the SEC previously signaling openness to a 16-team field but the Big Ten pushing toward 24, the proposal underscores a growing power struggle shaping college football’s postseason future. While the 12-team playoff remains locked in for 2026, the debate over what comes next is clearly already underway, and the sport could look dramatically different in the coming years.