After months of chatter, the College Football Playoff officially announced on Monday its move to 24 teams beginning in 2027, along with all the changes that would accompany it.
Playoff expansion will not only mean more teams in the field and the end of conference championship games, but also have a massive impact on the schedule going forward. Each team now has two bye weeks each season, but will need to make the most of that extra week off because teams in the Power Four will now have to play 10 Power Four opponents (or Notre Dame) on their schedules.
With each of those conferences expanding to nine-game conference schedules, teams must find one Power Four non-conference opponent to add to their schedules to qualify for College Football Playoff consideration.
The majority of teams already hit that mark, but it will force a handful of programs to scramble over the coming months to adjust their 2027 schedules (and beyond) to meet that new requirement.
Teams that must tweak 2027 schedules
A handful of teams are currently saved by the Oregon State and Washington State rule. For now, Oregon State and Washington State still count as P4 teams after the old Pac-12 abandoned them, and that will continue in 2027, sources told CBS Sports' Richard Johnson.
Ole Miss plays the Beavers, and Washington, Arizona and Kansas all get the Cougars in 2027. The Notre Dame inclusion (along with various in-state rivalries with SEC foes) means the entire ACC is compliant thanks to their scheduling alliance with the Irish, but a handful of Big Ten and Big 12 teams have some work to do.
Indiana
The Hoosiers again have a light non-conference slate scheduled for 2027, but will have to drop one of their currently scheduled games to meet the new requirement. Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State or Indiana State will have to make way for a newly scheduled game -- and the other teams on this list might present the opponent the Hoosiers suddenly need.
Oregon
The Ducks are hoping for a bounce-back season in 2027, but they will need to make a schedule change before things kick off next season. Oregon's non-conference slate for 2027 is Eastern Washington, Coastal Carolina and Western Kentucky, but one of those will have to get changed for Dan Lanning's squad to be eligible for the playoff.
USC
USC currently has only two non-conference games locked in with UNLV and Nevada, and that open date on the schedule will need to be filled by a P4 opponent. The pause in the Notre Dame series has left USC without that guaranteed additional opponent on the schedule, and Lincoln Riley and the Trojans will have to find someone to fill the void.
Texas Tech
Like USC, the Red Raiders have yet to fill out their 2027 schedule with a 12th game and will need to find a P4 opponent for that spot. Joey McGuire's team currently has Arkansas-Pine Bluff and New Mexico on their schedule to start the season, and perhaps we'll see the Red Raiders and one of the Big Ten teams currently seeking a P4 opponent match up early next year.
Missouri
The Tigers will hope the 24-team playoff can be their ticket into the dance, but for Eli Drinkwitz's bunch to do so, they'll have to get their 2027 schedule compliant. Currently, the Tigers are scheduled to play Illinois State, San Diego State and FAU in their non-conference schedule and will need to find a new P4 opponent for one of those three games.
Nebraska
Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa aren't going to cut it for Matt Rhule's bunch, and the Huskers will also have to find a new opponent to get compliant for 2027. Considering the heat Rhule is facing after another second-half collapse in Lincoln in 2026, getting the Huskers to the 24-team playoff would go a long way to quieting some of the frustration around the program.
TCU
The Horned Frogs currently have Alcorn State, North Texas and Sam Houston on their 2027 schedule. Sonny Dykes, like Rhule, finds himself in an increasingly hot seat and will see his task for 2027 get even tougher with a new opponent needing to get swapped in for TCU's non-conference slate.
Indiana, USC failed to meet requirement in 2026
As of this moment, only two teams ranked in the top 25 would have failed to meet that requirement in 2026: Indiana and USC.
Indiana's schedule has been a topic of conversation for some time. The Hoosiers began their national title defense with a non-conference slate that featured North Texas, Howard and Western Kentucky. In 2025, they opened with Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State. Beginning with the 2027 season, Curt Cignetti will have to change his approach to non-conference scheduling and at least find lower-tier Power Four opponents to swap in.
USC did not have an FCS opponent on this year's schedule, but did begin the season with three Group of Six opponents -- San Jose State, Fresno State and Louisiana. The Trojans ending their long-time series with Notre Dame leaves them without that 10th P4 on their schedule until 2030, when they resume their rivalry with the Irish. Now they'll have to remedy that situation sooner rather than later.
There are three Big 12 teams currently in the top 25 -- Texas Tech, Houston and Arizona -- that would be in good standing despite not having 10 opponents from a P4 conference because of the aforementioned quirk involving Oregon State and Washington State.
It's not clear at this time when the Beavers and Cougars will no longer count towards a team's P4 scheduling now that the new Pac-12 has been reformed and is part of the Group of Six, but it alleviates some of the pressure on teams with those two on their schedules going forward.
