The College Football Playoff is officially expanding.

ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed on a five-year deal that will expand the playoff field from 12 teams to 24 teams beginning with the 2027 college football season. It is the second notable expansion in recent years to the CFP, which was established in 2014 and expanded from four teams to 12 in 2024.

The deal between ESPN and the CFP is expected to be worth nearly $1.7 billion, according to ESPN's Heather Dinich. It will also eliminate conference championship games at the Power Four level, which has already been recognized by the SEC and Big Ten.

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"We will make the 24-team Playoff spectacular for the fans, student-athletes, their institutions and all our stakeholders. That is our commitment. Our organization delivers a world-class championship experience at our games and our events, and this promise will continue under the new format. 23 games of Playoff football, featuring 24 ranked teams going head-to-head for the right to be crowned the true national champion," CFP executive director Rich Clark said in a statement.

"We are also thrilled to continue our broadcast partnership with ESPN, which has been a terrific partner of the CFP since its inception. Like the CFP, ESPN celebrates everything that makes the sport of college football so great. The promotion, storytelling and innovation ESPN brings to the CFP, college football fans and the sport in general, is second to none. We know that level of excellence will continue as we embark on this journey to a 24-team format."

The news of the deal being done comes a few days after the CFP released a statement on Friday, Nov. 6 that a formal agreement was in the final stages.

Since the moment that 24-team expansion began being discussed — which included the SEC resisting the move until October, despite the Big Ten pushing for it — it has faced scrutiny and backlash across college football, including from former Alabama coach Nick Saban.

"There’s not 24 teams in the country that can win the national championship," Saban said last week on the "New Heights" podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce. "... There’s a lot of pride in winning the conference championship. And we're going to give that up to have an extra game, where the 24th team is going to play the ninth-best team. I'm not a big (proponent) of it."

The second unveiling of the College Football Playoff rankings is set for Tuesday, Nov. 10 between 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET between games at the Champions Classic.

Here are some things to know about the expanded 24-team CFP format:

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How many teams will be in CFP?

The expanded College Football Playoff, which is slated to begin next season, will feature 24 teams. It will mark the third format of the CFP era, following the transition from the BCS system to a four-team playoff in 2014 and the expansion to a 12-team field in 2024.

Here's a breakdown of the 24-team CFP field from the CFP press release:

  • Four conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC (as determined by their respective conferences)
  • The highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, OR Sun Belt; and
  • The 19 highest-ranked remaining teams in the CFP Selection Committee's final ranking

Details of ESPN-CFP playoff deal

ESPN — which has the exclusive rights to the CFP — is reportedly set to pay $1.7 billion in the new five-year contract for the 24-team CFP. The deal with the CFP to purchase the additional games (and additional teams) will last through 2031, the same length as the network's current deal with the CFP.

What will happen to conference championships?

The expectation is that conference championships at the Power Four level will not exist in the soon-to-be 24-team playoff. That means this year will be the final year of the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten championship games.

The SEC on Monday, Nov. 9 announced the end of the SEC Championship, a decision it said coincides with the CFP's expansion:

"The SEC Football Championship Game has been a defining event in college football for more than three decades, producing unforgettable moments and crowning legendary champions," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. "What began with the vision and leadership of Commissioner Roy Kramer in 1992 helped reshape the landscape of college football and established a tradition that has endured for 35 years.

"As the sport evolves with an expanded College Football Playoff, we look forward to celebrating the remarkable legacy of this event with its 35th and final edition and recognizing the city of Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and AMB Sports and Entertainment, and the many partners who have contributed to its success."

The Big Ten followed shortly after the SEC in acknowledging the end of the Big Ten Championship:

"As we look ahead to a new College Football Playoff format, the Big Ten Conference is deeply grateful to the City of Indianapolis, the Indiana Sports Corp, Lucas Oil Stadium and the hundreds of thousands of fans who helped make the Big Ten Football Championship Game a marquee event each season since its inception in 2011," Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti said in a statement. "We look forward to our final Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game on Dec. 5 and maintaining our strong relationship with Indianapolis as we host future Big Ten championships across our sports portfolio in the city."

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What will expanded CFP look like?

While the exact details of the 24-team playoff are uncertain, assuming it holds to the current model (five highest-ranked conference championships and at-larges) this is what the bracket would look like after the initial CFP rankings:

  • No. 1 Miami * vs. winner of No. 16 Wake Forest vs. No. 17 Houston
  • No. 2 Georgia * vs. winner of No. 15 Texas Tech vs. No. 18 Missouri
  • No. 3 Utah * vs. winner of No. 14 LSU vs. No. 19 Iowa
  • No. 4 Indiana * vs. winner of No. 13 Tennessee vs. No. 20 USC
  • No. 5 Alabama vs. winner of No. 12 Ohio State vs. No. 21 South Carolina
  • No. 6 Kentucky vs. winner of No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 22 Arizona
  • No. 7 Texas vs. winner of No. 10 Ole Miss vs. No. 23 Oregon
  • No. 8 UCLA vs. winner of No. 9 BYU vs. No. 24 Boise State *

* Projected top-five conference champion

24-team CFP schedule

Per the CFP's release, the 2027-28 CFP will begin the first full week of December. No CFP games in the 24-team era will conflict with the Army-Navy game. The first two rounds of the playoff will now be held on college campuses, before the playoff shifts to bowl sites for the quarterfinals and semifinals, as it has done since its inception.

Those with a top-eight seed will each earn a first-round bye and will host a CFP second-round game on their respective campuses . Those seeded 9-16 will each host a CFP first-round game on their respective campuses against seeds 17-24. The CFP first- and second-round games will be played Thursday through Saturday of those weeks.

In total, 16 of the 23 playoff games will be played on college campuses.

The first national championship game of the 24-team format will be held on Monday, Jan. 24 in New Orleans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts and Spotify.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ESPN, CFP agree to 24-team playoff, but at what cost? Details of mega deal

Source: Yahoo Sports