College Football Playoff Rankings 2022: How a 12-team bracket would play out this season

This is how the College Football Playoff would have played out this year with a 12-team field.

Although the College Football Playoff is expanding in two years, let’s discuss what the 12-team format would have looked like, as well as what could have happened if this set-up was implemented for the 2022 college season.

The four teams left playing for a national championship this year are the SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs, the Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines, the Big 12 runner-up TCU Horned Frogs and a one-loss, at-large team out of the Big Ten in the Ohio State Buckeyes. While all have a chance at winning it, there are a few teams on the outside looking in who would have loved the opportunity…

Here is 100 percent how a 12-team College Football Playoff would have played out this season.

College Football Playoff Rankings 2022: Proposed 12-team field

Before we begin, the proposed format that most people expect will be implemented as 2024 is as such: 12 teams are getting in, with half being the six highest-ranked conference champions and the other half being at-large bids. The four highest-ranked conference champions get a first-round bye into the national quarterfinals. Teams No. 5 through No. 8 will be hosting home playoff games.

Here are the 12 teams who would have made it in, in line with the proposed CFP rankings system.

1.  Georgia Bulldogs (SEC Champion): Bye
2. Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Champion): Bye
3. Clemson Tigers (ACC Champion): Bye
4. Utah Utes (Pac-12 Champion): Bye
5. TCU Horned Frogs vs. No. 12 Tulane Green Wave (AAC Champion)
6. Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions
7. Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 10 USC Trojans
8. Tennessee Volunteers vs. No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats (Big 12 Champion)

The four teams getting first-round byes would be SEC champion Georgia, Big Ten champion Michigan, ACC champion Clemson and Pac-12 champion Utah. While nobody has any issues with Georgia and Michigan getting the top two spots, Clemson came in at No. 7 in the final playoff rankings, while Utah came in at No. 8. TCU, Ohio State, Alabama and Tennessee all get hosed here.

Conversely, the good news for the Horned Frogs, the Buckeyes, the Crimson Tide and the Volunteers is they would all get to host home playoff games vs. the other teams that are getting in. No. 5 TCU would host No. 12 Tulane, No. 6 Ohio State would host No. 11 Penn State, No. 7 Alabama would host No. 10 USC and No. 8 Tennessee would host No. 9 Kansas State. Got it? Cool.

The exercise we are about to do is interesting in so many ways. We will see how the home-field advantage in the first-round could help propel some teams into the quarterfinals. The reseeding of the field could give us more intriguing matchups than we largely expected. Most importantly, the size of the field itself has tripled. Ultimately, all the outsiders are asking for is one more chance…

So let’s get down to it with the four first-round games that will be played on college campuses.