{"id":85482,"date":"2026-02-14T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=85482"},"modified":"2026-02-13T20:35:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:35:48","slug":"the-big-tens-24-team-cfp-format-compromise-is-anything-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/02\/14\/the-big-tens-24-team-cfp-format-compromise-is-anything-but\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Ten’s “24-Team CFP Format Compromise” Is Anything But"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the top dog in college football, the Big Ten<\/a> is doing its best to swing its weight around. Along with fellow superconference SEC, the Big Ten runs how things are decided, not the NCAA. So, since money is the only thing that matters in college sports, both the Big Ten and SEC are doing everything they can to maximize profits and do best by their respective members. The SEC wants a 16-team CFP. It’s not an outlandish request, but that’s not good enough for the Big Ten. Recently, the Big Ten unveiled its “24-team CFP format compromise<\/a>” in internal memos.<\/p>\n

The Big Ten’s “24-Team CFP Format Compromise”<\/h2>\n

Changing It Up<\/h3>\n

That “compromise” expands the CFP to 16 for 2027 and 2028, then to 24 “no later than the 2029 season.” The 16-team format would follow the 5 + 11 format that the SEC favors<\/a>, but with a small twist. Instead of 16 teams and no byes, the top two seeds would earn byes, and we would have two play-in games between the lowest four seeds. The idea would be that the play-in round would be on the second weekend of December, so hopefully neither Army nor Navy would be affected.<\/p>\n

Then, when it expands again to 24, the Big Ten would go with a 23 + 1 option. That is, the top 23 teams would make it, plus the best Group of 6 team. The part of this that is a compromise is that in the past, the Big Ten argued for automatic qualifiers. In this case, no team would automatically qualify based on conference affiliation. Evidently, AQs matter less to the Big Ten if the CFP expands to 24. The seeding would feature byes for each of the top eight teams, and each of the first two rounds would be on campus. Based on last year’s ranking, the SEC would have led the way with seven teams. There would be six from the Big Ten, five from the Big 12, three from the ACC (but not Duke, the ACC champion), two from the Group of 6, and Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

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NEW: An internal Big Ten document explores a 24-team College Football Playoff. It offers a peek at what that model could look like, as another off-season of CFP discussion is set to unfold. Details here: https:\/\/t.co\/on2sqej1H8<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/j6twmdqyFp<\/a><\/p>\n

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n