The 12-team College Football Playoff is two years closer.

Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Clemson Insider that the Rose Bowl has agreed to amend their contract with the College Football Playoff that paves the way for the expanded playoff to start earlier.

The CFP will now be set to expand to 12 teams starting in 2024. It has been at four teams since its inception in 2014.

The expanded playoff field will be comprised of the six highest-ranked conference champions in the Football Bowl Subdivision and the six highest-ranked at-large teams. The top four teams in the final CFP rankings will receive a first-round bye.

The Rose Bowl’s decision brings finality to the uncertainty of how soon the CFP would see expansion, the idea of which was originally proposed in the summer of 2021 by a working group within the CFP management committee. The idea faced initial opposition from some conferences, including the ACC, but the CFP’s board of managers eventually voted unanimously in September to expand the playoff to 12 teams by 2026 at the latest.

That’s when ESPN’s current contract with the CFP bowls runs out, though expansion was possible as soon as the 2024 season if all six of those games — the Orange, Rose, Fiesta, Cotton, Peach and Sugar bowls, which take turns hosting the CFP semifinals in the current format — agreed to it. All but the Rose had reportedly agreed before this week to amend the current deal while the Rose held out, seeking a guarantee from CFP officials that the game would remain in its traditional New Year’s Day time slot.

But the Rose Bowl is now willing to be flexible in order to be part of the playoff through the 2025 season and beyond. Pending final approval from president and chancellors who oversee the CFP, the decision will help usher in a new era of college football sooner rather than later.