In 2022, the NCAA announced that changes to the format of the college football playoffs would expand the number of teams from four to 12. Now in 2024, the college football expansion has finally hit the nation.
Introduced in 2014 to replace the old bowl championship series, this new way of conducting college football playoffs has more competition to determine a national champion. The bowl championship series would use a selection of rankings to rank the top 25 teams to see who would play in the major bowl games, with the top two playing in the BCS national championship game.
In the old format of the playoffs introduced in 2014, the playoff selection committee would pick the top four teams in the nation to play in the semifinals with the winners moving on to the national championship game. The top four teams included were selected regardless of conference, so even if you had won your conference championship, there was a possibility that you were left off and set to play in another bowl game. The new format follows a similar principle of using the selection committee, except now they select the top 12 teams. With the inclusion of eight more teams, the top four teams now receive a first-round bye.
Being the first or second team left out of the playoffs would sting for many programs. Just last year, the undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State University (FSU) were ranked fifth in the nation and missed the playoffs. The Florida State Seminoles became the first Power Five team in the playoff era to go undefeated and not participate in the playoffs.
The Power Five conferences refer to the five most influential and top-tier NCAA athletic conferences in college football. They include the Atlantic Coastal Conference, BIG10, Big 12, Pac 12, and Southeastern Conference.
Another time in 2017, the BIG10 champion Ohio State University was left out of the playoffs in favor of the University of Alabama, who didn’t even play in their conference championship game. In that year too, many argued that undefeated University of Central Florida (UCF) should have made the playoffs especially after beating the team Alabama lost to, the University of Auburn, in the Peach Bowl.
During the first college football playoff, there was controversy around the rankings. Third-ranked Texas Christian University (TCU), who were the Big 12 champions, were pushed down to sixth after Ohio State won the Big 10 championship and jumped up in the rankings.
The new playoff format looks to prevent similar scenarios to FSU, Ohio State, UCF, and TCU, by including the top 12 teams in the nation. The expanded format aims to increase competitiveness amongst teams now that they have a greater chance to make the playoffs and give players more experience in higher-stakes environments.
With the top four teams receiving a first-round bye, the rest of the matchups go by the highest remaining seeds against the lowest seeds. The 12th seed against 5th, 11th against 6th, 10th against 7th, and 9th against 8th.
Currently, the top 12 in the nation are as follows: University of Oregon, Ohio State University, University of Texas, Penn State University, University of Notre Dame, University of Georgia, University of Tennessee, University of Miami, Southern Methodist University, University of Indiana, Boise State University, and Clemson University. The first two teams off, University of Alabama and Arizona State University, are still fighting for a potential spot with one more game left in the regular season.
Compared to the Associated Press preseason rankings, there are numerous surprise contenders this season and long-standing programs that look weaker. Programs that are used to being top three such as Alabama and Georgia look vulnerable. On the other hand, smaller programs such as Boise State have put the nation on notice, with running back Ashton Jeanty headlining their season.
The Heisman Trophy candidate for the best player in college football has been putting up historic numbers, leading the country in rushing yards at 2,062 and touchdowns at 27. Compared to the recent Heisman trophy winners at running back, Jeanty’s numbers would most likely have him on track to win the award in any other season; however, he isn’t the front-runner to win the award.
That title goes to Colorado’s Travis Hunter, who plays both cornerback and wide receiver at a high level. Hunter is currently top 10 in receiving yards at 1,036 and third in touchdowns at 11. On the other side of the ball, he is holding quarterbacks to a 44.0 passer rating when targeting him alongside 9 passes defended. This means that when quarterbacks throw to the receivers Hunter is guarding, they are having very little success.
In a season where mediocrity appears to be high, any team has a good chance to make a run at the championship. Ten of the AP preseason top 25 teams are currently unranked and Ohio State is only favored at +320 as the most likely winner of the national championship before the playoffs begin according to CBS Sports.
The first round of the playoffs begin on Dec. 20 and 21, quarterfinals on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, semifinals on Jan. 9 and 10, and the national championship on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.
