The first thing that jumps out about a 24-team College Football Playoff is how quickly the bracket starts to feel real. Based on the Week 8 AP Top 25 Poll, the field would be packed with ranked teams, fresh faces, and a few matchups that would have fan bases circling dates immediately.
Under the setup reported last week, the Playoff would move to 24 teams for the 2027-28 season, just three seasons after the format grew from four teams to 12. The structure would include 19 at-large selections, plus automatic bids for the four Power Four champions and the top Group of Six program. Right now, that Group of Six spot would go to Boise State, the Pac-12’s No. 21 team in the AP Poll, in a hypothetical 2026-27 bracket.
Using the current rankings, the bracket would send the first and second round games to home fields, with the higher seed hosting. The second-round matchups would look like this: No.
1 Miami would play the winner of No. 17 Wake Forest and No.
16 USC; No. 8 Texas Tech would get the winner of No.
9 UCLA and No. 24 Northwestern; No.
4 Notre Dame would face the winner of No. 13 Alabama and No.
20 Florida; No. 5 Georgia would draw the winner of No.
12 Kentucky and No. 21 Boise State; No.
2 BYU would meet the winner of No. 15 Iowa and No.
18 LSU; No. 7 Ole Miss would play the winner of No.
10 Utah and No. 23 SMU; No.
3 Ohio State would take on the winner of No. 14 Houston and No.
19 Texas; and No. 6 Indiana would get the winner of No.
11 Tennessee and No. 22 Missouri.
That bracket would introduce 11 schools to the CFP for the first time: No. 2 BYU, No.
9 UCLA, No. 10 Utah, No.
12 Kentucky, No. 14 Houston, No.
15 Iowa, No. 16 USC, No.
17 Wake Forest, No. 20 Florida, No.
22 Missouri, and No. 24 Northwestern.
Among that group, BYU would be the only team to land a first-round bye.
The most eye-catching opening-round games would come in the SEC. Alabama would be paired with Florida, while Tennessee would meet Missouri.
Texas, which dropped to No. 19 after back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Florida, would draw former Southwest Conference rival Houston. The Longhorns have faced Houston only four times this century, and Texas has won eight straight in the series dating back to 1992.
A few of the other first-round games come with plenty of history, or very little of it. UCLA and Northwestern would be the only matchup involving teams that have played more than twice, with the schools meeting seven times.
Utah and SMU have met only twice. Iowa and LSU have played once.
USC and Wake Forest have never played each other, and neither have Kentucky and Boise State.
In Other News...
Kentucky Just Ran Into One Big Obstacle With Seneca Driver
Kentuckys road win over Oklahoma gave the Wildcats a little extra juice on the field, but it also came with a reminder that some recruiting battles are going to be harder to flip than others. Seneca Driver, a 5-star tight end prospect already pledged to the Sooners, made it clear he remains firm in that commitment, keeping Kentucky in the chase but not changing the shape of the race.
Drivers loyalty appears tied closely to Oklahoma tight ends coach Jason Witten, and he said his commitment is likely to hold as long as Witten is still on staff. Kentucky will keep working, because that is what elite programs do with a talent like Driver, but the Wildcats are trying to climb a steep hill here with a recruit who has already drawn a line around where he stands. [Read more 🡒]
Ty Bryant Had A Bigger Reason Behind His Huge Night At Oklahoma
Ty Bryants performance against Oklahoma stood out on the field, with the veteran Kentucky safety piling up two interceptions and nine tackles in a game that gave the Wildcats a much-needed spark. But the night carried a meaning beyond the box score, because Bryant also chose to use the moment to honor the memory of Neven Coofer, the 6-year-old child who recently passed away.
Bryant wore eye black reading Neven Forever 6 and stayed in touch with Nevens family before and after the game as a way of showing his support. For Kentucky, it was a reminder that some of the most powerful moments in football come from the reasons players carry onto the field with them, even when the game itself provides plenty of its own drama. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Suddenly Has A CJ Baxter Question It Can't Ignore
Kentuckys win over Oklahoma came with a little extra uncertainty attached, and it had everything to do with the backfield. Jason Patterson handled the load after CJ Baxter was held out because of an injury, giving the Wildcats a steady presence in a 21-13 victory that was sealed by two late John Mateer interceptions in Norman.
Will Stein said Baxter did warm up before the game, but the decision was made to rest him rather than risk making the injury worse. Kentucky now turns to Vanderbilt with the encouraging part being that Baxter is expected back, even if the Wildcats offense showed there is still a contingency plan if he needs it again. [Read more 🡒]