Big Ten Ends Football Title Game After 2026 Season
The 2026 Big Ten championship game will be the conference's last, as the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Football
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The College Football Playoff approved a 24-team format on Monday, which ends the regular season on Thanksgiving week and moves playoffs into early December, leading conference championship games to be discontinued. The Big Ten's final title game will be played Saturday, December 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Why it matters
The expanded playoff calendar leaves no room for conference championship games at the end of the regular season, reshaping how conferences decide their automatic playoff berths. For U.S. fans, it marks the end of a long-running postseason tradition in the Big Ten.
The 24-team CFP format includes 19 at-large bids and gives the top eight teams first-round byes, with the Big Ten's 2026 title game serving as its 16th and final championship game. The conference has not yet said how it will name a champion in future seasons.
The players
College Football Playoff
The national postseason tournament for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams, which governs the format and selection of playoff participants.
Big Ten Conference
A major NCAA Division I athletic conference whose final football championship game will be held in Indianapolis in 2026.
University of Washington
A Seattle-based public university whose football team won all three of its Pac-12 championship game appearances.
The details
The 24-team CFP was approved on Monday and will include Power 4 conference champions and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team, with the opening two rounds held at the higher seed's campus. The new calendar ends the FBS regular season on Thanksgiving week and starts the playoffs in the first week of December, which is why league title games are being discontinued.
Timeline
Washington won Pac-12 title games in 2016, 2018, and 2023, the last of which was the conference's final championship game.
The 24-team CFP format was approved on Monday.
The Big Ten's final championship game is set for Saturday, December 5, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The first national championship game under the 24-team model will be played January 24, 2028, in New Orleans.
Roadmap
Washington's three Pac-12 championship game wins in 2016, 2018, and 2023 are the last chapter of a conference title-game model that the playoff expansion now ends. The 24-team format moves the sport toward a calendar where regular-season finales replace league championship games as the final regular-season showcase.
Fans lose the Big Ten championship game as a regular-season finale after 2026, changing how the conference's automatic playoff berth is decided. Schedule and broadcast planning for the Thanksgiving-to-December window will shift with the new playoff calendar.
The takeaway
Conference championship games are giving way to an expanded playoff calendar, so fans should watch how the Big Ten names its champion after 2026. Following the regular-season finale schedule will matter more as the new format takes hold.
What happens next
The Big Ten's final championship game is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will be broadcast by FOX. The first national championship game under the 24-team format is set for January 24, 2028, in New Orleans.
Further reading
Explore more Football coverage to see how the expanded playoff format is changing the college game.
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