SEC title game ends as the CFP moves to 24 teams in 2027; LSU and Texas meet Saturday

The SEC Championship Game has an end date. The College Football Playoff confirmed Monday that it will double to 24 teams starting with the 2027 season, and the conference title games will go to make room for it. The SEC's December game is dropped, and so are the ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten championships, ESPN reported.

The field will take the four Power 4 champions, the highest-ranked Group of 6 team and 19 at-large teams from the selection committee's final ranking. Seeds 1 through 8 get a bye and then a home game. Seeds 9 through 16 host first-round games against seeds 17 through 24. A team that plays every round would top out at 17 games, the same as under the current format. The 2027 regular season runs from Aug. 28 to Nov. 27. The first round is Dec. 9-11, and the title game is Jan. 24, 2028. The format stays at 24 teams through the 2031-32 season.

The SEC agreed last. According to ESPN, the league held out for a 16-team field until it was satisfied it could absorb the loss of its title game, which sources valued at about $80 million. It also needed the other Power 4 leagues to accept a scheduling standard of at least 10 games against Power 4 opponents and Notre Dame. The committee will also give no weight to a win over a second FCS opponent. That rule touches nearly every SEC schedule this fall, since most of the league opened against at least one FCS team. Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin argued the sport had too few postseason spots for its size and told ESPN, "The CFP spot is what matters."

The expanded field would change the math for teams in the middle of the league. Nine games in, Georgia is 8-1. Four teams sit at 7-2, and four more are 6-3. Under 24 teams, most of that group would still have a path in mid-November. Not every fan base likes the trade. SB Nation's LSU site, And The Valley Shook, put the format to its readers in a weekly poll.

What it means for Saturday

This season still uses the 12-team bracket, and that raises the stakes for Texas at LSU on Saturday night on ABC. Texas is 7-2. It beat Ohio State 24-23 in September, the kind of nonconference game the new scheduling rules are meant to encourage, and it is coming off a 34-20 win at Missouri. Its two losses were by three points each, to Florida and Oklahoma. LSU is 6-3 after a 31-13 home loss to Alabama, and a fourth loss would likely end its playoff hopes.

LSU is favored at home. Novig, one of 12 venues on our board, has LSU at -167 and Texas at +156. The best Texas moneyline anywhere is +157 at Pinnacle, so the venues barely differ on the outright winner. They differ more on the spread. Novig has LSU -3.5 at -102. Hard Rock Bet offers the widest Texas number, +4.5 at -110, a full point and the gap between a field goal and more. Novig's total is 45.5, and BetMGM has the under at 46.5. Sportsbook hold on the game runs from 3.6% to 6.8%.

Elsewhere, Georgia is favored by 15.5 points on Novig against Missouri at -641 on the moneyline. Tennessee is a 2.5-point favorite at Texas A&M.