ESPN reporting that playoffs will expand to 12 teams in 2024

[roadkill]

Under the new system, the Playoff field be composed of the top six conference champions among the 10 active conferences, plus six wild-card teams, guaranteeing a spot for a Group of Five team.

To expand on what I posted earlier for those who missed it, this is from the NCAA:

"The 12-team Playoff will be made up of the six conference champions ranked highest by the committee, with no minimum ranking requirement, and the six highest-ranked teams not among the conference champions. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded Nos. 1 through 4 and will receive a first-round bye."

 

[GTRambler]

Not sure why 15-16 games is a problem. Only a few teams would be playing that many. Also, like the other poster said, drop conference championship games since they will no longer matter, and that will save you one game. Also, FCS teams that advance to the championship play 17 games and it's ok for those student athletes so why not FBS?

Great point. I’d love to see a FCS-style playoff system for the FBS schools. Problem is, all the Bowl people will very strongly resist it … wayyyy too much money involved.

 

[billga99]

An excellent question. Other than for seeding (and $$$) there isn't a good reason. I wonder if they will be abandoned in favor of the expanded playoffs...

Especially since both Big 12 and ACC don't have divisions (ACC starting next year) and play one vs. two in standings

 

[BuzzStone]

Has there ever been one year where there were really more than 3 legit contenders? every year I remember there is only 3 teams that really stand out. I am not sure expanding will do much.

 

[wreckrod]

Has there ever been one year where there were really more than 3 legit contenders? every year I remember there is only 3 teams that really stand out. I am not sure expanding will do much.

I would argue that this year is one of the best years for an expanded playoff. Typically yes, there's like 2, sometimes 3 teams that are head and shoulders above everyone else. This year it's kind of Ugag and then a big mess from 2 to 10, and I'm pretty sure any of the remaining top 10 teams could beat any of the other remaining top 10 teams.

Edit: Ok I went and looked again, and maybe more like the top 7. But those tops 7, any given game could go any direction depending on how the ball bounces.

 

[GT33]

Does the ACC get an automatic bid like the AAC or do we need to have a team ranked in the Top 12 to qualify?

 

[BuzzStone]

I would argue that this year is one of the best years for an expanded playoff. Typically yes, there's like 2, sometimes 3 teams that are head and shoulders above everyone else. This year it's kind of Ugag and then a big mess from 2 to 10, and I'm pretty sure any of the remaining top 10 teams could beat any of the other remaining top 10 teams.

Edit: Ok I went and looked again, and maybe more like the top 7. But those tops 7, any given game could go any direction depending on how the ball bounces.

i would tend to agree with you that this is the best year, but it is still UGA and everyone else. No one will beat them. This year there are not 3 legit contenders. Why give a #7 a shot?

 

[RamblinRed]

The conference championship games will stay because they are a huge part of the TV Contracts and bring in millions of dollars in both TV revenue and gate for the conferences.
The reason they have always existed is primarily to increase the revenue for the conferences.

The new CFP is basically designed to get the conference champions from the P5 (and the top ranked G5 champion) team and then the next 6 highest ranked CFP teams.

If you used this week's CFP rankings and assumed the conference championship games are all won by the higher ranked team than a 12 team playoff this year would be (listing the conference champions in CFP order first and then the top 6 remaining CFP teams)
1.UGA -CFP #1, SEC Champ
2. Mich -CFP #2, B10 Champ
3.TCU - CFP #3, B12 Champ
4. USC - CFP #4, PAC Champ
5. Clemson - CFP #9, ACC Champ
6. Tulane - CFP #18, AAC Champ
7. Ohio St - CFP #5
8. AL - CFP #6
9. TN - CFP #7
10. Penn St - CFP #8
11. Kansas St - CFP #10
12. Utah - CFP #11

Washington and FSU would be the first 2 left out.

I believe the idea for the 12 team is that the top 4 get buys so I believe the structure would be

1. UGA - Bye
2. Mich - Bye
3. TCU - Bye
4. USC - Bye

5. Ohio St - 12. Tulane - winner plays USC
6. AL - 11. Utah - winner plays TCU
7. TN - 10. Kansas St - winner plays Mich
8. Penn St - 9. Clemson - winner plays UGA

I'm pretty sure the 12 teams picked will be seated based on their CFP rankings, not whether they are conference champions.

Clemson, Utah, and Tulane would be the only teams that would be in danger of missing the CFP with a conference championship game loss.
Clemson would be replaced by UNC (who would likely be the #12 seed, might be the #11 seed ahead of the G5 conference champ)
If UCF beats Tulane in the ACC Championship game they would get the G5 bid.
If Utah loses to USC then the committee would have to decide whether to keep them above Washington or move them behind them. Would be an interesting decision as dropping them would effectively be punishing them for playing in the Championship game, so there may be reason to keep them where they are.

 

[forensicbuzz]

If this happens, say goodbye to any big OOC games during the regular season. Top schools will not want to schedule each other, so you'll see B1G and SEC schools only scheduling bottom feeders in P5 conferences and avoiding trap games like AppSt and CC. It will take a few years to happen because of contracts, but it'll happen. If we start playing better and win some games, uga will not want to play us every year.

 

[wreckrod]

i would tend to agree with you that this is the best year, but it is still UGA and everyone else. No one will beat them. This year there are not 3 legit contenders. Why give a #7 a shot?

Yeah but Ugag isn't invincible. I think you can favor them against any of the other 6 teams, but I don't think they're unbeatable by any means. If GT can give them a solid half of football . . . any of those teams could have a good day and win.

 

[Jazzchaz]

Let's say that the CFP takes the top two from each P5 and two at-large bids.

This means that one or two conferences would get a third or fourth team (looking at you, SEC). Or that a really good independent or G5 team gets invited. Whatever.

My question is: why play a conference championship game if those two teams are already in the CFP? I mean, bragging rights and trophies, etc. are nice, but so are healthy players going into the tournament that really counts.

This isn't basketball...guys don't generally break a collarbone (or worse) in the conference tournament. And you can actually play four games in four days in basketball meaning that VERY rarely, an underdog might knock off the regular season champions.

So, while I'm in favor of expanding the CFP (eight seems adequate, IMO) to prevent the inevitable argument that some #5 or #6 was actually more deserving or better than a team with a better record against a weaker schedule, I just don't see the purpose of the conference title game after the expansion.

I've trashed the cash cow conference 'championship' games from the beginning. There have been years when not one of them had any bearing on playoffs. This year, Georgia and Michigan are in no matter if they win or lose. Last year, Alabama blew out Georgia only to lose enough key starters which made the difference when they played the '2nd championship' game.
The only way we're going to get rid of them is to make those stadiums playoff sites. Those folks aren't going to give up their $$$.
Eight playoff teams are more than plenty. All 12 does is let the Big Ten pack in more teams that the media rubber stamps in the pre-season top 10 polls every year.
However, Ohio State won't have to do their annual whining that they deserve to be the team blown out in the playoffs.
Ten or eleven regular season games are more than enough to determine playoff teams.
In theory, adding the 12th and 13th games allows teams to play competitive games around the country. But the reality has been for schools to add two or three assumed automatic wins that few fans want to see.

 

[Jacket05]

The conference chamionships should be the first round of the playoffs.

I would prefer the tournament be only the 10 conference champions. I'm under the belief that if you can't win your conference then you don't deserve to be a national champion. As for the independents they'll just need to join a conference.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

All I’m going to say….with this new playoff set up, Chadwell and Fritz have a better shot at getting into the playoffs at their current schools than here. lol

 

[forensicbuzz]

I would prefer the tournament be only the 10 conference champions. I'm under the belief that if you can't win your conference then you don't deserve to be a national champion. As for the independents they'll just need to join a conference.

This has been my contention from the beginning. If you can't win your conference, you don't deserve a chance at the national title. If you whine about your conference being harder than others, join the others. Otherwise shut up.

 

[Randy Carson]

I would prefer the tournament be only the 10 conference champions. I'm under the belief that if you can't win your conference then you don't deserve to be a national champion. As for the independents they'll just need to join a conference.

Yeah, that resonates with me in that being conference champion ought to mean something. Maybe the regular season champion and the conference champion (unless that's the same team).

The problem, of course, crops up when the two best teams in the country are in the same conference or even in the same division. But watching them play best 2 out of 3 is a bit tedious.

 

[Creative]

It will double to 24 within a decade. The TV money will be huge and the on campus games will drive huge bucks to the communities. I can’t wait.

Yeah then maybe just 6 games and then start the tournament at 64 with 4 play in games.

 

[ibeattetris]

The conference chamionships should be the first round of the playoffs.

I have said this as well too, along with making the wild cards play each other in the first round.

 

[ibeattetris]

Has there ever been one year where there were really more than 3 legit contenders? every year I remember there is only 3 teams that really stand out. I am not sure expanding will do much.

The 16 seed in the ncaa basketball tourney has no chance to win, but it’s still fun for that team to get a chance.

Who cares if in a 16 team tourney if the 16th team has no chance to win. Only in NCAA football do people care about this “legit contender” nonsense. The NFL has had teams with losing records make the playoffs, but I’ve never heard people suggest the entire system needs revamped.

 

[Creative]

This has been my contention from the beginning. If you can't win your conference, you don't deserve a chance at the national title. If you whine about your conference being harder than others, join the others. Otherwise shut up.

Exactly. Sun Belt = SEC. AAC = PAC 12. Sensible, logical, reasonable. With the implementation of the conference transfer portal, Alabama can move to the ACC and GT can move to the Sun Belt to make it easier. The team would need to sit out for a year after the second transfer though.

 

[Jacket05]

Yeah, that resonates with me in that being conference champion ought to mean something. Maybe the regular season champion and the conference champion (unless that's the same team).

The problem, of course, crops up when the two best teams in the country are in the same conference or even in the same division. But watching them play best 2 out of 3 is a bit tedious.

If the 2 best teams are in the same conference or division then they will have the opportunity to play each other and whoever wins should be the one that moves on to the tournament.

It's very difficult to definitively determine that one conference is better than another because they're so few cross-conference games. Therefore we let the regular season determine the best team in each conference then all the champions play in a tournament to determine the best team.