College Football 12-Team Playoff: The Focal Point of the Fall

For all the Gen Z folk who have grown up in this era of college football, there have been 2 different types.  The 2000’s and early 2010’s included the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) where we had computerized rankings and some unbelievable seasons (2007 of course) that prevailed some unlikely names at the top including Boise State, Boston College, Kansas, Missouri, etc.   Until the 2013 season concluding and the college football world going to the infamous 4-team playoff that was supposed to change the landscape of how the seasons were played, and for the first couple of years, the hype was real.   

After years of controversial takes and teams not making it that should have been in, and the vice versa of teams making it that shouldn’t have, there would be a plead to expand the college playoffs to 12 teams to make it more inclusive and allow more teams to have a shot at the timeless national championship. 

We will have the 4 major conference champions from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC automatically making the playoff with the highest ranked team to win their conference outside of that getting in as well and the other seven spots go to the highest remaining ranked teams.  With the change, there will be new challenges and it will only get more strategic on how teams play the season down the stretch and into the postseason.   

With the number of teams going to change in the playoffs, I think there will be a big downturn in opt-outs for bowl games and a big factor in that too is the NIL aspect.  The window of opportunity widens for teams which does mean the pressure for each individual game goes down, but only slightly.  Compared to the BCS days and, for most, the CFP 4 team era where it was losing 1 game and you’re out, depending on the timing in the season and the strength of schedule as well, this is the difference where one loss might not be the end all be all of a team’s season. 

I love this idea though, with all the hype that is going on, this will be new, and it will keep the college football fans engaged.  It might also lead to more opportunities for smaller schools to get bigger recruits since the field of possible champions is widening.  Looking back, I feel for UCF back during their undefeated season as they would have been a PROBLEM in this format, unfortunately, we’ll never get to see that pan out.  Also, looking at the conferences expanding, there is a lot to look forward to this season and overall, it looks like this change will be a good one.  Only time will tell though, right?