College Football Playoff: What changes have been made?

The College Football Playoff board managers voted on September 2 to expand the number of teams to 12. They also set the goal of implementing the proposed larger format as soon as possible.

The new College Football Playoff tournament will start in the 2024 season and the deadline has been set for the 2026 season. The tournament previously hosted only four teams and will see an increase of eight teams in the newly voted format.

“This was a very historic day for college football,” Mark Keenum, the president of Mississippi State and chair of the Board of Managers said. 

Also Read: College Football Playoffs to expand to 12 teams by 2026

The newly voted format for the College Football Playoff will see the six highest ranked champions of the conference as well as six picks at large, the names of whom will be decided by a committee of selectors. This proposal was voted unanimously by the 11 members of the board, who are also the leaders of different university teams.

Let’s take a look at the changes that have been made to the College Football Playoff on September 2.

A new system for ranking: A committee of selectors appointed by the College Football Playoff authorities will be determining rankings every week, which will be based on several criteria.

Bracket placement: Top four ranked champions in the conference will be seeded between 1 and 4. They will also be receiving byes in the first round itself. The four teams who remain will also be seeded, however, will be playing against other low-seeded teams later.

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Bowl relationship: Rotating bowl venues will be hosting the quarterfinal and semifinal matches and will be rotated. An agreement will be reached to continue hosting national championship matches in impartial venues. The conference relationships which already exist with bowls will be used for the placement of the matches.

The proposal of having 12 teams was first introduced in mid-2021. The proposal received positive feedback from a subcommittee of the College Football Playoff management, which included commissioners from the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Football Bowl Subdivision is the premier tier of college football in the United States.