College football will expand its playoff to 24 teams beginning next year, a move that lends an NFL flavor to its postseason while resetting decades of tradition surrounding a once all-important regular season and dumping conference championship showdowns that used to be among the sport’s marquee events.

The announcement from the College Football Playoff and ESPN on Monday made official a deal that’s been in the works for months. The network reported it would pay an additional $1.7 billion over five years on top of the original $7.8 billion contract that runs through the 2031 season.

The new format will grant the Power Four conference champions automatic spots and give one more to the best team from the Group of Six.…