College Playoff Football Will Move to 5-7 Format and Expanded 12 Team Playoff

The Board of Managers for the CFP are finally in agreement on a new change. Today, they announce that College Playoff Football will move to a 5-7 format and expanded 12 Team Playoff. Aiming to make things fair, competitive and more attractively interesting for fans as well as schools in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports reports on this new format development by the College Football Playoff Board of Managers. FOS’ Christovich states,

It’s official: The College Football Playoff will move to a 5-7 format for the expanded 12-team playoff starting this year. Five conference champions, seven more top-ranked FBS teams. Guarantees one Group of 5 team will make it.

Change came from Pac-12 collapse.

The College Football Playoff has finalized a new 5–7 format for the expanded 12-team format, which will begin this upcoming season.

• 5 top-ranked conf. champions, auto bids
• 7 next top-ranked teams, at-large spots

The CFP had initially settled on a 6–6 qualification system allowing six conference champions.

However, that setup became un-ideal in the CFP’s eyes after the collapse of the Pac-12—now, there will be only four power conferences.

The only way WSU or OSU could qualify for a CFP spot is if they’re ranked in the top 12-ish of all teams. They won’t be eligible for a conference champion slot, as their scheduling partnership with the Mountain West does NOT allow them to play for a Mountain West championship.

College Playoff Football Will Move to 5-7 Format and Expanded 12 Team Playoff

Very interesting. Moreover, the official press release from the CFP adds,

“The College Football Playoff (CFP) Board of Managers today unanimously revised the qualifying criteria for the 12-team event to now include the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams as determined by the CFP Selection Committee.

Under the 12-team playoff format that begins this fall, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye, while teams seeded five through 12 will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team. (The team ranked #5 will host #12; team #6 will meet team #11; team #7 will play team #10; and team #8 will meet #9. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in the New Year’s Six bowl games, the national championship game will continue to be at a neutral site. No conference will qualify automatically and there will be no limit on the number of participants from a conference.”

Additionally, Dr. Mark Keenum, President of Mississippi State University and Chair of the CFP Board of Managers states that this decision should bring about results that will “please” everyone. He mentions,

“This is a very logical adjustment for the College Football Playoff based on the evolution of our conference structures since the board first adopted this new format in September 2022. I know this change will also be well received by student-athletes, coaches and fans. We all will be pleased to see this new format come to life on the field this postseason.”

Therefore, the game has changed. New format, hopefully new results than in the past. Furthermore, we also agree it will be fascinating to see all of this play out in the near future.

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