CFP news: Big Ten’s Tony Petitti delivers bottom line on conference title games with 24-team expansion

While the upcoming season will utilize the 12-team format for the College Football Playoff once again, talk of expansion still lingers for future seasons. Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti opened up about the potential of expansion on Tuesday and made a claim about conference title games that college football fans may or may not like.

Assuming the CFP expands to 24 teams, Petitti admits that the Big Ten Conference Championship game would potentially dissolve, according to Brett McMurphy of On3 Sports. While there is a chance it would remain in place, the winner of the Big Ten title game would essentially become meaningless for the postseason.

“We pretty much won’t be playing a conference championship game,” Petitti said about the Big Ten if the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams.

The 63-year-old Commissioner also claimed that coaches and athletic directors in the Big Ten appear to be open to the idea of a 24-team playoff, per Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports and On3 Sports. Dellenger also claims the next CFP meeting on August 10 could be a pivotal moment for expansion talks.

“Been a lot of movement among coaches and ADs [in moving to a 24-team playoff],” Petitti claimed.

“Of note and perhaps unreported: The CFP will hold its next meeting with executives on Aug. 10 in Dallas, which could be a key gathering toward a potential expansion decision,” Dellenger reported.

Although there has been some pushback on a 24-team expansion for the College Football Playoff from fans and some analysts, it appears the change is inevitable. Until then, fans can enjoy the 12-team format for at least one more year, as the 2026-27 campaign is set to begin in late August with several Week 0 matchups.