The College Football Playoff (CFP) has announced a major change for the 2024-25 season, expanding the playoff bracket from four teams to 12 teams. This new format will allow more teams to compete for the national championship, providing fans with more exciting matchups and increasing the overall competitiveness of the playoff.
Under the new format, the 12-team playoff field will consist of the five highest-ranked conference champions, who will receive automatic bids. The remaining seven spots will be filled by the highest-ranked teams that did not win their conference. This new selection process ensures that deserving teams from all conferences have a chance to compete for the national title.
The top four teams in the playoff rankings will receive a first-round bye, advancing directly to the quarterfinals. This bye week will give these teams a valuable rest period and a strategic advantage as they prepare to face their opponents in the next round.
In the first round of the playoffs, the remaining eight teams will face off in four matchups. The higher-seeded teams will host these games at their home stadiums or at another designated site. This setup adds an exciting element to the playoff format, as teams will have the opportunity to play in front of their home crowd in a high-stakes postseason game.
The quarterfinal round of the playoffs will take place in New Year’s Six bowl games, adding prestige and tradition to these matchups. The semifinals will be played in rotating bowl locations, with the national championship host site determined through a bidding process by prospective host cities.
To illustrate how the 12-team playoff format would have looked in the 2023-24 season, the final CFP rankings were used to project potential matchups. Teams like Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama would have been the top seeds, with other highly-ranked teams filling out the rest of the bracket.
The schedule for the 2024 and 2025 seasons outlines the dates and locations of the playoff games, including the first round, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the national championship. Fans can look forward to exciting matchups in iconic bowl games, culminating in the crowning of a national champion in a thrilling finale.
Overall, the introduction of a 12-team playoff format for the College Football Playoff promises to bring more excitement, drama, and competition to the postseason. With more teams vying for a shot at the national title, college football fans can expect a thrilling and unforgettable playoff experience in the years to come.