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CFP expanding to 24 teams, big conference title games eliminated in $1.7 billion ESPN deal

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Cite

Reilly, B. (2026, November 9). CFP expanding to 24 teams, big conference title games eliminated in $1.7 billion ESPN deal. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/09/sports/cfp-expanding-to-24-teams-conference-title-games-eliminated-in-1-7b-deal/

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New York Post · collected 2026-11-09 · by Bridget Reilly

Quick Summary

ESPN has reached a five-year agreement with the College Football Playoff (CFP) for $1.7 billion, which will expand the playoff field from 12 to 24 teams starting in 2027. The new format eliminates conference championship games and introduces changes such as Week Zero beginning before Labor Day and regular-season rankings guiding at-large bids. ESPN's chairman emphasized their commitment to elevating the CFP as its exclusive media partner, while the CFP chair highlighted the expanded playoff's benefits for more teams and fan bases.
Written by AI on 2026-11-10, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The College Football Playoff will expand from its current 12-team format to include 24 teams starting next year. This expansion was announced after ESPN agreed to a new contract, signaling an end to traditional conference championship games that have been marquee events for decades. The new playoff system will consist of the four conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC, plus the highest-ranked team from other conferences like the American Athletic Conference, along with 19 additional teams ranked highest among remaining contenders. The move aims to increase participation and revenue but has drawn criticism, notably from Governor Ron DeSantis, who called it a "short-sighted" decision.

Written for “College Football Playoff Expands To 24 Teams” on 2026-11-10, grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 139611 · logged 2026-11-10

Story

College Football Playoff Expands To 24 Teams
Sports · 9 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Daily Caller
Hedges 2 of 13 claims Outlet record 93/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
9
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
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Publisher

New York Post · 18371 article(s) · 39 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 39 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Bridget Reilly
85 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Bridget Reilly
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 85 articles by Bridget Reilly →

Topics

Big Ten CFP ESPN SEC the Worldwide Leader

Subjects

CFP ORG · 9× ESPN ORG · 8× ACC ORG · 1× Big 12 ORG · 1× Big Ten ORG · 1× Group of 6 ORG · 1× Jimmy Pitaro PERSON · 1× SEC ORG · 1× the College Football Playoff ORG · 1× the Worldwide Leader ORG · 1×

Narrative

“ESPN and the College Football Playoff have worked collaboratively for more than a decade to make the CFP one of the marquee events in all of sports, and we remain firmly committed to elevating it in its new, expanded 24-team format,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-10
ESPN agreed to a five-year deal with the postseason tournament valued at about $1.7 billion that will expand the field to 24 teams starting in 2027, ESPN reported Monday.

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

The CFP is only getting bigger. asserted
CFP → get → ?
ESPN agreed to a five-year deal with the postseason tournament valued at about $1.7 billion that will expand the field to 24 teams starting in 2027, ESPN reported Monday. asserted
ESPN → agree → 2027
It’s a move that keeps the Worldwide Leader as the CFP’s broadcast partner and will also be rid of the Power 4 (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12) conference championship games. asserted
that → ’ → games
“ESPN and the College Football Playoff have worked collaboratively for more than a decade to make the CFP one of the marquee events in all of sports, and we remain firmly committed to elevating it in its new, expanded 24-team format,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. asserted
Pitaro → work → statement
“We value the trust that the CFP has placed in us as its exclusive media partner, and our continued presentation of this premier championship further solidifies ESPN as the home of college football and the destination for college sports for years to come. asserted
presentation → value → years
Sources informed ESPN that the average additional payment from the network for the expanded playoff format is $345 million annually for the next five years, in addition to the average of $1.3 billion annually that it already is paying over that time span. asserted
it → inform → span
The 24-team field will involve 19 at-large bids, the Power 4 conference champions and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team. asserted
field → involve → 6
Notre Dame does not receive any guarantees, the way it does this year if it’s ranked in the top 12. asserted
it → receive → top
The CFP selection committee plans to continue to rank its top 25 teams with inclusion in mind. asserted
committee → plan → mind
It’s also considering expanding its weekly rankings to 30 teams to reveal which programs are on the bubble. asserted
programs → consider → bubble
“Opening the Playoff to more programs, more student-athletes and more fan bases across the country is great for college football,” Mark Keenum, chair of the CFP board of managers, said in a statement. asserted
Keenum → open → statement
“We look forward to seeing this expanded format come to life next season.” asserted
format → look → life
As far as the format of the playoff, the top eight teams will have a first-round bye while the first two rounds of matchups will be played at the campus belonging to the higher seed. asserted
rounds → have → seed
The college football regular season will begin the week before Labor Day in what has been deemed “Week Zero,” and will conclude on Thanksgiving weekend. asserted
what → begin → weekend
The playoff will start in the second weekend of December 2027 and the national championship game will be keeping its set date of Jan. 24, 2028 in New Orleans. asserted
game → start → Orleans
Other changes include the Power 4 conferences determining their champions based on the regular-season standings and the established conference tiebreaking rules. asserted
conferences → include → standings
The Army-Navy game will also now be played on what previously was conference championship game weekend. asserted
what → play → ?
If either one of the teams qualify for the 24-team field, the result of the yearly armed forces showdown won’t have an effect on the team’s CFP ranking. asserted
result → qualify → ranking
Last month, ESPN and the CFP began a 30-day negotiation window to determine the value of a 24-team field. asserted
ESPN → begin → field
The new deal and change to the CFP field comes two years after the historic change from four to 12 teams in the postseason. asserted
deal → come → postseason
The two parties agreed to a six-year, $7.8 billion deal that put the network as the sole media rights holder of the event in March 2024 through the 2031-32 season. asserted
that → agree → season
ESPN remains the sole right holder but has the option to sublicense six of the 12 new games to those approved as sublicensees. asserted
ESPN → remain → sublicensees
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