College Football Playoff announces expansion to 12 teams beginning in 2024

The years of debates are over, the playoffs in college football are expanding.

The College Football Playoff announced on Thursday that the FBS postseason tournament will officially expand to 12 teams beginning in the 2024-25 season. The news comes just one day after it was reported that the Rose Bowl finally agreed to terms that would have made playoff expansion possible. Rose Bowl executives were initially reluctant to give up its traditional kickoff time on New Year’s Day at 5 p.m. ET, but have relented.

The CFP announced that the first round will take place on the week ending Saturday, December 21. The top four seeds will receive byes while the other eight schools will square off in matchups to take place at the home site of the higher ranked team. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be rotated between the traditional New Year’s Six bowl games. The final will take place at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta in January of 2025 and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in 2026. All future sites will be determined at a later date.