After a decade, the College Football Playoff era is receiving its first big update. The field will be expanded from four teams to a whopping 12. How will this work and is this a good idea? Don’t worry, it’s all quite simple.
Beginning in 2024, the six highest-ranked conference champions will be given an automatic bid to the playoffs. From there, the additional six highest-ranked teams will be invited to the CFP.
The four highest-ranked teams receive byes in the first round. Teams to participate in the first round will have their game played at the campus of the higher-ranked team, or a venue of the higher-team’s choosing.
The quarterfinals will be played in four New Year’s Six bowl games, with the remaining two serving as the semifinal sites. This will all be done on a rotating basis. The winners of the semifinals move on to the national championship, which will be played at a neutral site as it is today.
There’s a whole lot of good that will come out of this new format, but, like anything, there will be some bad. Here are the pros and cons of the 12-team College Football Playoff.