College Football Playoff expansion: How the 2025 field would have looked in 24-team format

College football’s postseason seems to be heading toward another massive transformation. Just two years into the 12-team era, momentum is already building behind potential future expansion, and a 24-team format is quickly becoming one of the sport’s most talked-about possibilities. 

Following a recent vote from the American Football Coaches Association supporting larger playoff fields, conversations surrounding the future of the College Football Playoff have only intensified. Per CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford, a proposed 24-team model would dramatically reshape the postseason calendar, eliminate conference championship weekend and add an additional round of playoff games. 

The format would also create far more access across the country, giving programs outside the traditional powers legitimate pathways into the national title race. If the 2025 final CFP rankings were applied to that format, the bracket would’ve looked absolutely loaded.

Under the proposed structure, the top eight teams would receive opening-round byes while seeds No. 9 through No. 24 would square off on campus sites during the first weekend of playoff action. That means programs like Alabama, Miami and Notre Dame would have hosted postseason games.

Meanwhile, the highest-ranked Group of Six champion would automatically qualify for the field. Check out how the projected 24-team playoff bracket would’ve looked based on the final 2025 CFP rankings. Crawford and CBS Sports laid it all out on Friday morning.

Opening Round Byes

No. 1 Indiana (13-0)
No. 2 Ohio State (12-1)
No. 3 Georgia (12-1)
No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1)
No. 5 Oregon (11-1)
No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1)
No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1)
No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2)

First-Round Games

No. 24 James Madison at No. 9 Alabama
No. 23 Iowa at No. 10 Miami
No. 22 Georgia Tech at No. 11 Notre Dame
No. 21 Houston at No. 12 BYU
No. 20 Tulane at No. 13 Texas
No. 19 Virginia at No. 14 Vanderbilt
No. 18 Michigan at No. 15 Utah
No. 17 Arizona at No. 16 USC

As you can tell, this setup would’ve created a completely different postseason dynamic. The traditional bowl season would’ve effectively become a full-fledged playoff tournament, with powerhouse brands colliding much earlier and more frequently. 

Home playoff games in places like South Bend, Tuscaloosa and Austin would instantly become some of the biggest events on the college football calendar. With expansion discussions expected to intensify before a Dec. 1 deadline for potential 2027 changes, the possibility of a 24-team bracket no longer feels far-fetched.

At the moment, it feels increasingly inevitable. Time will tell what’s next, but after the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament went through with expansion, nothing is off the table.