The College Football Playoff is officially expanding to 24 teams next season. The CFP and ESPN reached a nearly $1.7-billion agreement that would kick off the playoffs the second weekend in December and eliminate power conference championship games. LSU Athletics Director Verge Ausberry says LSU supported the 24-team playoffs. One reason was for more playoff games played on campus.
“It helps us financially. The first two games will be on campuses; so you can have two playoff games on your campus here, then there will be a quarterfinal game, a semifinal game and then a championship game,” Ausberry explained.
Each Power Four conference champ will receive an auto-bid as well as the highest-ranked Group of Six team. The top eight teams will receive a first-round bye.
All power conference teams will now be required to play 10 games against other power conference teams. Ausberry says the SEC already had that requirement with a nine-game conference schedule with one non-conference power opponent, but the Big Ten did not.
“We think that put us at a disadvantage to everyone else, especially the Big Ten. For the last three years, they’ve won the National Championship in football, and they had not played a Power-Four school. So that’s why we feel it helps us,” Ausberry explained.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin says he felt like the SEC had to support a 24-team playoff after moving to the nine-game conference schedule. He says the extra game results in a group of nine-win teams who are good enough to compete for a national title but would have been left out in the 12-team format.
“It gives you a better chance to get the right teams in. I mean, look at last year; Miami almost wins the whole thing, and then some people had them not even getting in,” Kiffin said.
The first 24-team playoff national championship game will be held in the Superdome on January 24, 2028.
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