ESPN reports deal with CFP for 24-team field in 2027 is near

ESPN is reporting that a deal for an expanded College Football Playoff field could happen sooner rather than later.

An ESPN report on Thursday cited sources saying “the deal is expected to come together in the near future, pending final approvals.”

The CFP and ESPN have been working to iron out details on how an expanded 24-team playoff would work in 2027 that involves the elimination of the SEC championship game and other Power 4 conference championship games as part of the deal.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart has supported an expanded playoff to 16 or 24 — “because of the currency (television inventory)” and “what we’re measured by as coaches.”

In a May interview with Josh Pate, Smart said he’s all about opportunity.

“I want to get my team in there, it’s an opportunity, and I want my fanbase to be engaged,” Smart said. “It’s gotten to the point where if you’re not in there (CFP field), there’s no value in a good ol’ bowl game.”

The CFP and ESPN entered into a 30-day negotiation window on Sept. 9 to determine what the value of a 24-team field would be — weighing it against the loss of the championship games and potential impact on the regular season.

The discussions have continued through this week, per a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Heather Dinich.

The season would start a week earlier as part of the deal, and of course there would be financial concessions.

The New Year’s Day Bowls — Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, Orange and Cotton — would still host the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the national championship game would rotate and remain in January.

Under the proposed deal, the teams seeded No. 1 through No. 8 would get a first-round bye.

The No. 1 seed would play the winner of a first-round game between the No. 16 and No. 17 seeds; the No. 2 seed would play the winner of a first-round game between the No. 15 and No. 18 seeds, and so on.

The higher-seeded teams would host the first-round games.

The American Football Coaches Association issued four major proposals after its Jan. 11-13 meetings at the Charlotte Convention Center:

• Eliminate the conference championship games

• Reduce scheduled bye weeks from two to one

• Preserve a dedicated window for the Army-Navy game while allowing flexibility for other games to be played on the day outside the window

• Reduce the minimum number of days between contests to no fewer than six.

SEC Network analyst Chris Doering suggested to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last spring that a 24-team playoff would be better for the conference.

“I actually think it would be better for the SEC,” Doering said of his support for a 24-team field. “With the Big Ten, maybe you get six teams in. … I think you could make an argument that the SEC, in that type of field, gets eight, nine, maybe 10 teams in because of how deep the talent goes in this league, that all are capable of winning a game or two (in the playoffs).”