The 2024 college football season will officially commence next month, and with it, the journey to the first-ever 12-team playoff will begin.
Since 2014, we’ve seen college football’s national champion crowned using a four-team model, and in the decade since the inaugural event, just 15 different teams have made an appearance in the field, and just six different teams have won a title.
However, the inclusion of more teams every year offers hope and opportunity to teams that have just missed out in recent years.
While we’ve seen projections on social media, and even virtual versions of a 12-team field on College Football 25, seeing the interworkings of how it will all come together is something that will elude us until December rolls around.
But, while we wait for that time to come, the College Football Playoff has asked ESPN’s Kirk Herkbstreit to help lay out the details of how the bracket will play out from the first round all the way to the National Championship on January 20, 2024.
So, who will get in?
“The 12-team College Football Playoff will feature the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams, as determined by the CFP selection committee,” Herbstreit explains.
This much has been pretty clear and easy to understand up to this point. It’s how the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion fits into the picture that seems to be the source of confusion.
“The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and receive first-round byes, with the fifth highest-ranked conference champion being seeded where it was ranked, or, at No. 12 if its final ranking falls outside of the Top 12.”
Teams seeded five through 12 will then play the first-round games (starting on December 20) on the campuses of the higher-seeded teams in each matchup. From there, the playoff will continue as the bracket determines, with the quarterfinals and semifinals being played at the traditional New Year’s Six bowl game locations.
