The 2024 season marks the opening of the 12 teams College Football Playoff.
The college football landscape has changed this offseason. Pac-12 no longer exists. Texas And Oklahoma are officially members of the SEC. The Big Ten has now added Oregon, Washington, USC And University of California. The Big 12 will also be redesigned with Colorado, Utah, Arizona And State of ArizonaAnd the ACC has expanded to the west coast and SMU, Cal And Stanford.
The impact of the 12-team postseason remains to be seen. But every team in the sport now has a path to the College Football Playoff, including the Group of 5. There will be seven spots for teams that don’t win a conference title. The season will no longer revolve around which teams are perfect. Programs could theoretically lose two to three games and still end up in the CFP.
College Basketball March Madness is known for Cinderella stories. How often that happens in the College Football Playoff era is unknown. But there is a chance that a No. 12 seed could displace a No. 5 seed.
With the new division into 12 teams One3 summarizes everything you need to know about the new college football postseason:
The 12-team College Football Playoff welcomes new postseason qualifiers. The five top-ranked conference champions and the next seven top-ranked at-large teams will earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.
After the realignment of the conferences, the SEC and the Big Ten are now considered the two super conferences of the sport. There is no upper limit to the number of teams from a conference that can qualify. At the same time, there are no guarantees for certain conferences. The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC have a good chance of securing four of the five conference championship spots. The Group of Five – American athlete, C-USA, Central America, Mountain West And Sunbelt — will all fight for the last automatic qualifier spot.
For example, last year Freedom would have finished 12th in the CFP despite being ranked 23rd.
Notre-DameHowever, they do not play in a conference. The Fighting Irish will not earn a top-four seed or a bye because they are independents. Notre Dame will host first-round games in South Bend if they earn a 5-8 seed.
State of Washington And State of Oregon no longer have their own league, despite a planning partnership with the Mountain West. According to NCAA and the rules of the College Football Playoffs, they can participate in the postseason but cannot secure a bye.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee also announced that conference championships will no longer be used as a deciding factor, as the new format guarantees participation to the top five conference champions.
The CFP field is chosen and evaluated by a 13-member selection committee that meets weekly during the final six weeks of the season. Committee members serve three-year terms and can recuse themselves if their teams are discussed during deliberations.
The committee consists of:
- Michigan athletic director Warden Manuel (Chairman of the Committee)*
- Former Nevada coach Chris Ult*
- Navy Sports Director Chet Gladchuk*
- Former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe*
- Sports director of Miami (Ohio) David Sayler*
- Former USA Today Sports journalist Kelly Whiteside*
- Former All-American Nebraska Lineman Will Shields
- Former coach of Toledo and Missouri Gary Pinkel*
- Athletic Director of Baylor Mack Rhoades*
- Virginia Athletic Director Carla Williams*
- Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek*
- Former coach of Oregon State and Nebraska Michael Riley*
- Former All-American Guard at Arizona State Randall McDaniel
* Retiring committee member
Which teams participate in bowl games?
The traditional six New Year’s Day bowl games are still part of the College Football Playoff. According to the CFP, the quarterfinals committee will assign the top four ranked conference champions to bowls once the bracket is set.
Similar to the four-team playoffs, the top-ranked player will receive preferential treatment. Rose bowl has proposed that the CFP keep the same time and date — 5 p.m. ET, Jan. 1 — for future playoffs. The game could become a permanent quarterfinal.
When will the rankings be published?
The College Football Playoff Committee will not change the rankings to avoid rematches between teams. For example: Michigan And Ohio StateThere will also be no re-placement after the bracket has been determined.
| DATE | TIME |
|---|---|
| Tuesday, November 5 | 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, November 12 | 9:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. ET (State Farm Champions Classic) |
| Tuesday, November 19 | 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, November 26 | 8pm – 9pm ET |
| Tuesday, December 3 | 7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Sunday, December 8 | 12:00 – 16:00 ET (Final Standings) |
The first-round games will be played on campus, with the first game of the 12-team College Football Playoff era scheduled for Friday, December 20. Three games will be played on Saturday, December 21, in the early afternoon, late afternoon and evening.
The quarter-finals will be played on neutral ground. Vrbo Fiesta Bowl is scheduled for Tuesday, December 31st, followed by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game And Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The semifinals of the College Football Playoffs take place on two different days. Capital One Orange Peel will take place on 9 January, followed by the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on January 10. The trophy for the national College Football Playoff championship will be presented on Monday, January 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium In Atlanta.
Here is the full schedule:
First round
Friday, December 20
Saturday, December 21
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, December 31: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Wednesday, January 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game and Allstate Sugar Bowl
Semifinal
Thursday, January 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl
Friday, January 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
National College Football Playoff Championship
Monday, January 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
