College Football Playoff Committee announces format for 12-team playoff: How could it look?

The College Football Playoff Committee announced the format for the expanded 12-team playoff. How would it have looked based on the final 2023 CFP rankings?

The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams in 2024. However, it hadn’t yet been settled how the 12 teams would be selected.

On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff Committee announced a 5+7 model for selecting the 12 teams that will vie for the national championship through the expanded playoff. This is a change from the originally agreed upon 6+6 model that included the six highest-ranked conference champions. This comes after the Pac-12 was reduced to just Oregon State and Washington State after the latest round of realignment.

The assumption is the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC will receive four of those five automatic bids and the other could come from the Pac-12 or a Group of Five conference.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will receive automatic bids. The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive a first-round bye, with seeds 5-12 facing each other at the home venues of seeds 5-8.

According to a release from the College Football Playoff Committee, the quarterfinals and semifinal games will be played at the sites of the New Year’s Six bowl venues. The national title game will continue to be played at a neutral site.

Though there will be automatic qualifiers, no conference is guaranteed a spot in the playoff and there are no limitations on the number of teams each conference can send to the playoff. Why does this caveat matter? Well, the Pac-12 is now the Pac-2, with only Oregon State and Washington State remaining. Their schedule may not warrant consideration for an automatic bid in the playoff if they aren’t one of the top five conference champions.

Conversely, the SEC, which is arguably the most competitive conference, had four teams ranked in the top 12 of the final College Football Playoff rankings for 2023. Throw Oklahoma and Texas into the mix and that’s six programs that will play football in 2024 from the SEC in the top 12 with LSU at No. 13. What will make up the Big Ten in 2024 had five teams inside the top 12.

So what would the 2023 [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] field look like if it had been a 12-team playoff?

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti wants more conference games with CFP implications

Would you like to see this? #B1G

Next college football season will usher in an exciting new era with the expanded, 12-team playoff coming to a streaming device or high definition television near you. Add that to expanded conferences, most notably the additions in the Big Ten and SEC, and it should make for some compelling and meaningful games, with more teams in the mix late in the year than what we have today.

However, to make it all the more enticing, games within conferences will need to look at scheduling and see what makes sense. In the case of the Big Ten, it appears that commissioner Tony Petitti would like to beef things up to have more games with College Football Playoff implications late in the year.

Petitti sat down with ESPN for a wide-ranging interview and touched on that very subject. He didn’t pull punches or look to make schedules as easy as possible for the big boys. No, instead, he seems to be ready to go all in.

“We’ve got some work to do to figure out what that [future model] is, because obviously, it has real impact on your regular season,” Petitti told ESPN. “You want to make sure that your teams have the ability to have a breakout season and qualify. And we also have to be realistic about what should get you access, in terms of number of wins. Look, we want meaningful games late in the season.

“We want fans to think that you know a game in the second week of November, even if you’ve already lost two or three games, still has a lot of value. That’s the goal.”

That’s also a bit of a shift from what we’ve seen from other leagues. For example, the SEC has historically played one less conference game than the Big Ten and threw in a nonconference date towards the end of the conference schedule to almost stack the deck for its teams. Those late in the year nonconference games haven’t exactly been must-see television.

We’ll see if the SEC follows suit of this desired scheduling shift, especially after the two money brokers of the sport announced a joint venture to be lock-step in some of the emerging issues in college football. Even if not, Pettiti looks like he’s ready to make things interesting for fans and teams.

“When you’re as deep as we are, we’ve got to do things to make sure that we have the access to the postseason that we think we deserve and has to be earned on the field,” Petitti said. “I’m a big believer in that, and that helps your regular season. More teams playing more meaningful games later in the season, I think we still can do more there.”

Count me as a proponent of this type of mindset, especially win one or two losses won’t break a season like we’ve seen happen in years past. Opportunity would seem to be knocking on the doorstep of an expanded playoff, and let’s hope that everyone answers the door with scheduling.

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Michigan football wins national title

Welp.

Welp. Jim Harbaugh did something his college coach Bo Schembechler couldn’t pull off, and that’s take the ultimate prize in college football. For the first time since 1997 when Michigan shared the national title with Nebraska, the Wolverines won it all by defeating Washington 34-13 on Monday night.

Michigan jumped out to a 17-3 early in the second quarter and never trailed despite the Huskies and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. making a game of it until late in the fourth quarter. Washington pulled to within 17-10 at halftime and then 20-13 midway through the third quarter, but couldn’t get any consistency going on offense against a Wolverines’ defense that gave up just 301 yards to one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

Michigan was especially stingy on third down, allowing a conversion on just 2-of-13 attempts. Penix threw for over 250 yards but many opportunities were left on the field because of a relentless Michigan pass rush.

Now, it’s officially the offseason and we’ll have plenty of to discuss as things continue to take shape next year.

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College football early odds for 2024-25 national championship

Forget Monday night – who wins it all next year?

We haven’t put a bow on the 2023-24 college football season yet, but we already have odds for who hoists the national championship trophy in January of 2025.

As a reminder, the playoff format changes next year from the current four-team playoff to a 12-team playoff with first-round games played on college campuses.

So who has the best odds of making it to the championship game and winning it all next year?

Notre Dame will enter with high expectations, and it is listed fairly high, but still a considerable way from the top. Below are the teams with the best odds to win it all according to Fan Duel.

Social media reacts to the Texas Longhorns’ loss in the Sugar Bowl

The Texas Longhorns lost in devastating fashion in the College Football Playoff and here’s how social media reacted.

In what many are calling the best College Football Playoff semifinal ever, the Texas Longhorns walked away empty handed.

After it looked like they weren’t going to get another significant chance to try to win their semifinal with Washington, the Longhorns moved the ball to the Huskies 15-yard line with a shot to win the game.

Four plays later, the Longhorns’ season ended in defeat. Steve Sarkisian inexplicably threw a swing pass to Jaydon Blue on first down, which gained zero yards but took time off the clock. On second down, Ewers threw the ball out of the end zone with Adonai Mitchell well covered. On third down, the Texas quarterback felt the pressure on the blitz and had to get rid of the ball. As he did, the clock nearly struck zero.

The officiating crew rightfully put one second back on the clock. On the final play, Ewers threw a jump ball to Mitchell in the end zone, which was knocked away by Washington cornerback Elijah Jackson to seal the win for the Huskies.

Washington moves on to take on the Michigan Wolverines in the College Football Playoff national championship, and Oklahoma fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

Here’s how social media reacted.

Big Ten bowl and College Football Playoff game schedule

Big Ten bowl and College Football Playoff game schedule. #B1G

The 2023 college football regular season is in the books, and, as is tradition, the day after the conference championships is selection Sunday. The College Football Playoff committee has made its final decisions, and many of the bowls have also been written in stone.

Now, whether you agree or disagree with the committee’s decisions, it doesn’t really matter for us Ohio State football fans. Landing a spot in the four-team invitational was highly unlikely. The committee was able to get four conference champions in, which was refreshing, but it is never fun seeing Ohio State’s biggest rival, Michigan, in the big dance, while the Buckeyes are relegated to what is essentially a meaningless exhibition.

Below is a look at the bowl slate for Big Ten teams and College Football Playoff games after the completion of all of the conference championship contests.

Ohio State football finds out it’s bowl opponent and destination

The Buckeyes are headed to the Lone Star State

While the top six teams of the College Football Playoff rankings knew their bowl matchups earlier, Ohio State football had to wait.

They now know their opponent and where they’ll be traveling to: Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. The Buckeyes will take on the No. 9 Tigers in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. ET.

The two teams last faced each other in 1998. Ohio State emerged victorious in Columbus, 35-14. The Buckeyes lead the series 10-1-1, but the teams have never faced each other in a bowl game.

This will give the chance for Ohio State to work on its record against SEC opponents in bowl games, which is 2-12.

This will be the second time the Buckeyes will play in the Cotton Bowl during the College Football Playoff era. The first time was a 24-7 win over USC in 2017.

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Last College Football Playoff rankings released. Where did Ohio State land?

Do you agree with where Ohio State fell in the last CFP rankings? #GoBucks

The final set of College Football Playoff rankings were released on Sunday, and as expected, the Ohio State football team has been left out of the playoff mix. The Buckeyes fell from their previous No. 6 ranking because of the weekend’s results, notably Alabama beating Georgia in the SEC Championship game. That threw everything into chaos. As expected, the Buckeyes landed at No. 7.

The No. 1 team was Michigan as expected, with Washington predictably coming in at No. 2. They were followed by No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida State. Behind Ohio State is Oregon (8), Missouri (9) and Penn State (10).

So, bring on the controversy and thankfully usher out this sham of a playoff. At least we have the 12-team playoff next season. At that point, if you are team No. 13, it will not be as glaring an issue as what we saw with this glorified “and one” with built-in human bias of teams at the top.

Now, we wait to see where Ohio State will go bowling. We’ll have that information as soon as it comes down.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

ESPN Playoff Predictor projects the four teams in the CFP based on results Saturday

Do you agree with the four teams the ESPN Playoff Predictor gives the best chances of making the #CFBPlayoff

Well, it’s going to be a very interesting Sunday when the College Football Playoff committee unveils the four teams that will be a part of the journey to a national championship.

Why?

Because it’s the most chaos we’ve seen since the start of the playoff system,  and there’s going to be legitimate concerns and very reasonable arguments against at least two of the teams that get in no matter what is announced on Sunday.

Michigan and Washington are almost assuredly in as No. 1 and No. 2. Beyond that, the committee will have to choose among Florida State, Texas, Alabama and Georgia. The Seminoles are undefeated but are hobbled on offense with starting quarterback Jordan Travis sidelined by injury.

The other three teams have one-loss, but two of them — Texas and Alabama — are conference champions — a tie-breaker with all things being equal. Georgia was the clear No. 1 team for a few weeks prior to this. Will the Bulldogs really fall below No. 4 after the nail-biter in Atlanta against Alabama in the SEC Championship game?

It’s going to be messy and one of the reasons most folks can’t wait for the start of a 12-team playoff next season. We even got in on the act and tried to predict the final College Football Playoff rankings and which four teams will be a part of the journey to confetti. We also predicted and projected all of the Big Ten bowl games including the New Year’s Six games and the CFP semifinal games.

But we’re not the only ones. All season, ESPN has been plugging data to spit out bleeps and bloops with a dash of unknown algo rhythms to give us percentage chances of teams making the College Football Playoff. And … now that we know the results on the field, here’s what the “Playoff Predictor” says about the four teams that have the best chance of making the CFP.

Let the debating begin in earnest as we unveil which teams ESPN believes will make the playoff based on the ESPN playoff predictor.