College football could soon expand to a 24-team playoff bracket for the 2027 season. While not all the details are known, the new bracket would double the field by adding one additional round of games, and it would also double the number of teams that earn a bye.
Using the final committee ranking after the 2025 season, which includes conference championship games, a 24-team bracket would feature 7 SEC schools, 6 Big Ten, 5 Big 12, 4 ACC, Notre Dame and one team from the Group of 6.
The top eight seeds would earn first-round byes, led by No. 1 Indiana, the Big Ten champion, followed by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia (SEC champion), No. 4 Texas Tech (Big 12 champion), No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 8 Oklahoma. First-round games would pit No. 9 through No. 24 against each other on campus, including No. 24 Duke, the ACC champion, at No. 9 Alabama, and No. 20 Tulane, the Group of 6 representative, at No. 13 Texas.
The second round would then match the first-round winners against the seeded teams, and the quarterfinals would be played at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl. Michigan at Ohio State or Texas at Texas Tech in the second round is a scenario that could have happened based on the 2025 ranking.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing