Since 2014, college football has had a playoff format to decide a national champion. The playoff committee votes on the four best teams, and sets matchups to decide a champion. However, this format is set to change next football season.
The playoff committee agreed on a format that will include the six highest-ranked conference champions as automatic qualifiers with six other at-large teams receiving playoff bids. With this being the first major change in college football since the introduction of the playoff in 2014, it creates the question of how this will change the college football landscape.
Before 2014, college football used a process where the two teams that played in the championship were selected by a computer generated point system, while the rest of the teams in college football with a winning record would play other teams in Bowl games to end their season. This was known as the BCS era.
Many coaches, players, and members of the media were unhappy with this system. In 2014, college football settled on the 4-team playoff system, which appeased many at the time.
But, this new playoff system didn’t keep many teams or athletic departments happy for long. Many teams that aren’t members of a Power 5 conference (SEC, BIG 10, BIG 12, PAC 12, and ACC), felt that they were underrepresented in the 4-team playoff format.
For example, in the 2016-2017 season, the University of Central Florida (UCF) team finished the season with a perfect, undefeated record at 13-0. Although they won their conference championship and finished the year in the top ten in both the AP and Coaches’ polls, they failed to make the playoffs. The reason they didn’t make it into the College Football Playoff was because they didn’t have enough “quality” wins against Power 5 Conference teams, so the committee didn’t think they were good enough for the final 4 in college football.
It wasn’t until the 2020-2021 season that a non-power five team made the playoffs. Because of this, the college football committee eventually decided to change to a 12 team playoff instead of a four team playoff.
The 12 team playoff will begin in the 2024-2025 college football season. This format is equitable towards non-power five teams. Another aspect of the new playoff is that it gives top ranked SEC or Big 10 schools an easy spot into the playoffs.
Because there are better teams in these conferences, teams that have good records against conference schools look better than teams in not as competitive conferences. For example, a two-loss team in the SEC looks better than an undefeated team in the Pac 12.
Additionally, this format will give two-loss teams a chance to redeem themselves and potentially win the championship.
Rather than a 4 team playoff, college football will now have a “March Madness” type of feeling. With 12 teams in the playoff, there will be more chances for huge upsets. Given the recent success of non power five teams, and the parity across College football, most matchups should be close games. It is improbable that there will be many blowouts or boring games.
This new playoff format will be very exciting. With the new format, fans can create brackets (similar to March Madness) and have more meaningful games to watch. More upsets, better representation, and more matchups will benefit college football from a player’s, coach’s, and viewer’s perspective.
