It was originally expected that the College Football Playoff's expansion to 12 teams wouldn't occur until 2026, but it's becoming very likely it will happen even sooner.
According to multiple reports, the Rose Bowl has amended its current contract, paving the way for a 12-team playoff beginning the 2024 season.
A 2024 expansion had originally been thought of as an outside chance, but the Rose Bowl's new agreement has made it a reality.
The committee agreed to a 12-team playoff back in September - it has been a four-team playoff since its inception in 2014.
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Georgia's Stetson Bennett celebrates after the College Football Playoff championship football game against Alabama, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Indianapolis. Georgia's football season is set to begin on Sept. 3, 2022, against Oregon. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
The 12 teams will consist of the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams, similar to other NCAA tournaments.
The proposal from last year had the four highest-ranked conference champions receiving first-round byes, and the remaining eight teams would play in the first round with games being played at the home fields of higher seeds. The quarterfinals and semifinals would be hosted by existing bowl games. The New Year's Six have rotated as semifinal games since the CFP's inception.
A general view of Rose Bowl Stadium before a game between the Alabama State Hornets and the UCLA Bruins on September 10, 2022 in Pasadena, California. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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Under the current format, the Georgia Bulldogs took down the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2022 National Championship Game.
Expanding from four to 12 in 2024 and '25 will require rescheduling semifinals and championship games that already have dates and sites set, plus adding four new first-round games in mid-December to be played on campus sites.
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CFP executive director Bill Hancock said in September that CFP officials have spoken to bowl partners and hosts cities that are set to hold semifinals and championship games after the 2024 and '25 seasons, but they have not been presented definitive new dates.
The College Football Playoff logo is shown on the field at AT&T Stadium before an NCAA college football game in Arlington, Texas, Jan. 1, 2021. The College Football Playoff is set to remain a four-team format through the 2025 season after the administrators who manage the postseason failed to agree on an expansion plan before the current contracts run out. A person involved with the decision told The Associated Press on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, that the CFP management committee, comprised of 10 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, met by video conference earlier this week. (AP Photo/Roger Steinman, File)
The current top-four of the CFP are Georgia, Michigan, TCU, and USC. If all four teams win their respective conference title games this weekend, that will likely be the playoff.