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Monday night’s game between Michigan and Washington will make more than just a national champion for the 2023 school football season.
This will mark the end of an era in the sport.
The matchup between the Wolverines and Huskies will be the final game of the four-team College Football Playoff format, a system that has been in place since the 2014 season, when it replaced the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series. Replacing it next season will be a 12-team playoff.
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This upgrade will be welcomed by many, as it will allow more systems to access the biggest and brightest level of the sport while also offering enthusiasts more high-stakes matches of significant national interest. Still, the update will come as a surprise to many who have become accustomed to the four-team setup and how it works, leaving plenty of questions about what’s in store for them in this brave new world of school football.
Here’s everything you want to know about the 12-team school football playoffs:
The selection of the four teams for the current playoff format encountered few snags over the course of its existence, but as this season showed with Alabama’s much-debated nod over Florida State for the No. 4 seed, there were inherent flaws in the system. The setup was meant to reward conference champions, but when there are only four available spots and five major conferences, it leaves open the inevitability a team with a deserving resume will get excluded.
While it will continue to be the subject of criticism, the 12-team style includes more groups and, in theory, has fewer glaring omissions.
So, who will make up the peloton?
As it stands, six automatic spots will be awarded to the six highest-ranked convention champions, as decided through playoff committee rankings. The final six spots will be awarded to the next six highest-ranked teams. As reported by Yahoo Sports, the CFP committee is expected to officially adopt a “5:7” style with the expansion of the Pac-12, a style that sees the five most sensible convention champions and seven players overall. )
In a 6-6 model, the playoffs would have included:
No. 1 Michigan (Big Ten)
No. 2 Washington (Pac-12)
No. Texas (Big 12)
No. Alabama (SEC)
No. 5 Florida State (ACC)
No. 6 Georgia (at-large)
Ohio State No. 7 (overall)
Oregon No. (general)
No. Nine Missouri (Overall)
No. 10 Penn State (Overall)
No. Ole Miss (in general)
N°12 Libertad (USA Conference)
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One of the most engaging and exciting aspects of the 12-team format will be that it will include one of the most beloved aspects of school football: games played on campus in front of passionate, sold-out crowds.
All four matches of the first round will be played on the court of the highest-ranked team or at the venue designated by the highest-ranked team.
Starting with the quarter-finals, the balls will be treated in the same way as now, with a specific bowling alley and venue serving as the venue for the competition. The same will happen with the semi-finals.
This is what the quarterfinals and semifinals of the first two seasons of the 12-team playoffs will look like:
2024
Quarterfinals: Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl
Semifinals: Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl
2025
Quarterfinals: Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl
Semifinals: Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl
The venue of the championship, as has been the case lately, will be decided through a bidding process, in which potential venues and cities will be presented as candidates to host the championship. Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will host the championship game during the 2024 school football season, while Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, will host the naming game of the 2025 season.
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A four-team playoff bracket is easy enough to explain and visualize. There are two semifinal games, with the winners of those matchups meeting in the championship.
What will it be like with 12 teams?
For the first time in FBS history, the playoff will feature byes, which will be earned by the four highest-rated conference champions. It’s worth noting here that independent programs such as Notre Dame cannot be considered a conference champion and thus cannot receive a first-round bye.
From there, it becomes a classic eight-team group, of which four exemption teams gather the winners of the first-round games.
Team 1 (Goodbye)
Team 2 (Goodbye)
Team (goodbye)
Team (bye)
Team #12 to Team #5
Team-to-Team 6
No. 10 team at No. 7 team
No. 9 team at No. 8 team
No. 1 team vs. No. 8/9 team
Team n°2 vs. n°7/10
Team No. vs. Team No. 6/11
Team n°4 vs. n°5/12
Last season, the playoffs would have looked like this:
No. 12 Liberty at No. 5 in the State of Florida
Ole Miss No. to No. 6 Georgia
No. 10 Penn State at No. 7 Ohio State
No. 9 Missouri at No. 8 Oregon
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 8 Oregon/No. 9 Missouri
No. 2 Washington vs. Washington No. 7 Ohio State/No. 10 State of Pennsylvania
No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6/No. Georgia Old Miss
No. 4 in Alabama vs. No. 5 in Florida/Liberty No. 12
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Here’s the 2024 school football playoff schedule, with game times still to be determined:
Friday, December 20 (one match)
Saturday, Dec. 21 (three games)
Tuesday, December 31 (Fiesta Bowl)
Wednesday, January 1 (Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl)
Thursday, January 9 (Orange Bowl)
Friday, January 10 (Cotton Bowl)
Monday, January 20 (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta)
Friday, December 19 (one match)
Saturday, Dec. 20 (three games)
Wednesday, December 31 (Cotton Bowl)
Thursday, January 1 (Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl)
Thursday January (Fiesta Bowl)
Friday, January 9 (Peach Bowl)
Monday, January 19 (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida)
This article originally published in Detroit Free Press: 12-Team College Football Playoffs: Bracket, Schedule, Venues & More Info