When does the College Football Playoff expand to 12 teams?
The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams but how long will fans have to wait before seeing the larger field of contenders?
It took a long time for the champion of college football to be determined by a playoff, but the sport finally instituted a four-team field in 2014.
It took less than a decade for the playoff to expand.
Agreements finally came through to bring the playoff field from four to 12 but locking in a larger field doesn’t mean it happens right away.
The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams in 2024
Fans who are eager for the 12-team field will have to be patient. The new playoff format won’t come into play until 2024
That means the 2023 championship will be decided the way it has for the last few years: With the CFP committee choosing just four teams to battle it out.
How the 12-team College Football Playoff format works
The 12-team field is expected to feature bye weeks for the top four conference champions, rewarding teams for their regular-season success. The remaining eight teams will be at-large selections. The highest-ranked Group of 5 champion will be included in the field by an automatic bid as well.
The No. 5 seed would take on the No. 12 seed. The No. 6 would get the No. 11. The No. 7 would battle the No. 10 and the No. 8 and 9 seeds would go at it. The winners of those four games would move on to play the Top 4.
The playoff for 2022 would look quite a bit different under those rules, simply because conference champions will get a leg up over non-champions. Teams like TCU and Ohio State would not be in the Top 4, though they would still be in the playoff as at-large teams.
Next. College Football Playoff: How 12-team CFP would play out. dark
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