With the 2025 season set to begin this coming Saturday with five Week 0 matchups, college football is almost back. As fans settle into an opening week set led by a Big 12 conference matchup featured ranked Kansas State and Iowa State in Ireland, the excitement inside the college football world continues to build. A few days ago, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported via X (formerly Twitter) that the Big Ten was exploring possible College Football Playoff expansion plans in preparation for the upcoming vote on a possible new format.
“Sources: The Big Ten has begun populating an expanded College Football Playoff idea, which could include 24 or 28 teams,” Thamel reported a few days ago. “Just an idea at this point.”
Both a 24 and 28-team version of the College Football Playoff would be a big jump from the current version. At the moment, the 12-team format is in place. After being stuck at four teams for the first few seasons of its existence, there's a strong possibility that expansion will happen. While 16 or 20 teams seems more likely, it's clear that the Big Ten has its eyes on even more. It's probable that the SEC also thinks along those same lines. While the 12-team tournament is still in place for this season, what would a 24-team field look like? Based on the preseason AP poll, the field below contains the top 24 teams in the nation. Let's take a look at how this tournament would look.
Here's how the bracket for a 24 team College Football Playoff would look
In a 24-team format, the top eight seeds would have first round byes. That includes top ranked Texas and two other SEC schools, as well as three Big Ten schools led by second ranked Penn State. Notre Dame and the ACC's Clemson Tigers would be the other two teams in this scenario. During last season's first go around in the 12-team format, all four of the top seeds lost their matchups after their byes. How many of them would fall in this scenario?
Each of the proposed first round matchups in this scenario would be a lot of fun for a college football fan to watch. This version of the College Football Playoff would feature games like LSU-Tennessee, Texas A&M-Michigan and Florida-Oklahoma. Out of the 24-team field, 16 teams would be from either the Big Ten or SEC, the nation's top two conferences. At the moment, the lone Group of Six representative would be 16th ranked SMU. If they got past Kansas State in the first round, the top ranked Longhorns would await them.
Of course, these matchups would be hosted on the higher seed's campus. So, that means a College Football Playoff matchup in LSU's Death Valley or Michigan's Big House would likely be on full display in prime time. Ohio State used their first-round playoff win over Tennessee last season to catapult them on a CFP National Championship win. Would the Buckeyes be able to do the same thing with a first-round bye this time around?
Would Ohio State win back-to-back College Football Playoff tournaments?
Let's say that Michigan wins the hypothetical first round matchup against Texas A&M in Ann Arbor. They would then have to face Ohio State in round two. Almost every single fan in college football would tune into a primetime second round matchup between college football's most hated rivals. Despite the Buckeyes' national title win last season, they still lost to Michigan for the fourth straight time.
If OSU defeat their archrivals, then their path towards a national championship gets the best start possible. If they lose, however, there's a pretty decent chance that head coach Ryan Day would be fired, especially if they defeat the Wolverines a few weeks before this hypothetical tournament. The bracket above features a lot of matchups in which Ohio State would be given a run for its money. The dream scenario for many involved would probably be a rematch between the Buckeyes and the SEC's Texas Longhorns at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
Outside a loaded top eight including those two top-tier programs, it wouldn't be surprising to see a dark horse like 12th-ranked Illinois or 17th-ranked Kansas State make a run, like 2023 Michigan. It's clear that deep, veteran-laden teams can make a lot of noise in the College Football Playoff. Would that trend continue with a massive 24-team field? If the Big Ten gets their way, the college football world will find out the answers to that question and more starting in 2026.
