The College Football Playoff management committee has agreed to a new 24-team playoff format, beginning in 2027.

Under this new format, the college football regular season will run from the week before Labor Day through Thanksgiving weekend. The first national championship game under the new 24-team model will take place on Jan. 24, 2028, as had been previously scheduled.

“We’re aware of the fan sentiment and that many fans aren’t in favor of expansion,” noted CFP executive director Rich Clark. “That was certainly weighed into the decision and it was considered. But ultimately, we just need to make a spectacular playoff.”

At his press conference today, Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman noted “the better opportunity we have to make the playoffs, it’s great. I don’t want this to be like March Madness and have 60-some teams making the playoffs, but the more opportunities we have to make the playoffs helps us. It helps us in scheduling. It helps us if there happens to be a defeat, you’ve still got more opportunities to make the playoffs. For us, at Notre Dame, it’s a positive.”

The 24-team field will include 19 at-large bids, the Power 4 conference champions as determined by each league, plus the highest-ranked Group of 6 team. The top eight teams will receive first-round byes, and the first two rounds of games will be held at the campus of the higher seed.

The change in the regular-season calendar brings about the end of the Power 4 conference championship games. Army-Navy game will now be played on what used to be conference championship game weekend, and it will have a standalone window while the playoff-bound teams have a weekend to rest.