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One year ago, the big conundrum was why 13-0 Florida State had been passed-up by 11-1 Alabama for the fourth and final College Football Playoff spot.
The overlords of college football said, “Don’t worry, Florida State fans. NEXT YEAR, we’ll have a 12-team playoff so a great team like the Seminoles won’t be left out.”
One year later, we do, indeed, have a 12-team playoff system in the upper division of college football.
The only thing which has not changed has been the howling.
This year, it is coming from supporters of multiple schools as to why their favorite team was not included in the newly expanded field.
Speaking for myself, the omission of last season’s Florida State’s unbeaten team is more deserving of our pity than any of this year’s teams being left out after Sunday’s 12-team selection show.
Why does it take four additional games to determine the top college football team?
It shouldn’t.
Let’s forget about the 12-team playoffs for a minute. What if we were still utilizing the four-team playoff system from last season? Who would make this year’s field?
According to the CFP’s latest rankings, the four playoff teams would be 12-0 Oregon, 11-1 Texas, 11-1 Penn State and 11-1 Notre Dame.
Hey, that’s a really good 4-team playoff field!
The next highest ranked teams (through last weekend’s games) would be 10-2 Georgia, Ohio State, and Tennessee.
Tough luck, guys. You lost two games this season. Better luck next year.
The next three slots at #8-10 in the FBS rankings went to 11-1 teams like SMU, Indiana, and Boise State.
As much as I have enjoyed the exceptional play of those teams this year, most college football fans would agree that the quartet of Oregon, Texas, Penn State (perhaps) and Notre Dame have played a harder schedule.
The 12 playoff teams will be announced on Sunday. Let the crying begin!
A slate of nine conference championship games will be played on Friday night and all day Saturday. The College Football Playoff committee will select and announce the lucky dozen teams receiving one of the prized playoff spots on Sunday afternoon, December 8.
Though I am not a member of this elite committee, it’s a virtual lock that these nine teams will make the field:
Big Ten – 12-0 Oregon, 11-1 Penn State, 11-1 Indiana, and 10-2 Ohio State
SEC – 11-1 Texas and 10-2 Tennessee
ACC – Winner of Saturday’s game between 11-1 SMU and 9-3 Clemson
Big 12 – Winner of Saturday’s game between 10-2 Arizona State and 10-2 Iowa State
Independent – 11-1 Notre Dame
That’s nine of the 12 positions.
Who will receive those other three playoff spots?
One playoff slot must go to the highest rated “Group of Five” conference team (AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sunbelt). Since the CFP group has Boise State at #10 and UNLV at #20 this week, the winner of Mountain West title game on Friday night (7PM on Fox) should advance to the playoffs.
If UNLV surprises Boise State, the CFP committee should award the Group of Five slot to UNLV and make the Rebels the lowest seeded playoff team. Even if 10-1 Army defeats 9-3 Tulane on Friday night to win the AAC title, I can’t see the Black Knights “jumping” UNLV to grab the Group of Five’s lone spot.
#11 – likely goes to Georgia (win or lose).
As long as the Dawgs play a competitive game in losing to Texas in Saturday’s SEC Championship game, they are likely to make the field. That is based on Georgia’s SEC runner-up status plus their vast national following.
Remember – television viewers matter most to ESPN, and ESPN is paying more than $1 billion for this year’s TV rights.
That leaves one more place in the field
The 12th playoff spot – This is very tricky due to the vast number of options.
11-1 Army (assuming they beat 9-3 Tulane in Friday night’s AAC finale)
11-2 SMU (assuming they lose to Clemson on Saturday night)
11-2 Boise State (assuming they lose to UNLV on Friday night)
11-2 UL-Lafayette (assuming they win the Sunbelt title over Marshall)
10-2 Miami Hurricanes – which isn’t playing in the ACC title game
10-2 BYU – which isn’t playing in the Big 12 title game.
10-2 Memphis – which isn’t playing in Friday’s AAC title game.
10-3 UNLV (assuming they lose to Boise State on Friday night)
The 10-3 Big 12 title game loser (either Arizona State or Iowa State)
Any 9-3 team of the Playoff committee’s choosing. That includes SEC stalwarts like Alabama, Missouri, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. Also available are 9-3 Syracuse (ACC), Colorado (Big 12), Illinois (Big Ten), Ohio U (MAC) and Sam Houston (Conference USA).
Drum roll please…the 12th playoff spot – goes to 9-3 Alabama
ESPN wants Alabama’s huge television audience. That big crimson elephant with a national following will squash those puny regional TV markets to get the final spot.
Let the howling begin!
The FCS Small College Playoffs are underway, too!
For several decades, the Football Championship Series (FCS) featured a playoff system with a 16-team field.
Now with 13 conferences and 125 teams, the FCS expanded its playoff system into a bloated 24-team competition about ten years ago.
Compare this to the large college Football Bowl Subdivision (nine conferences with 134 teams) but just 12-teams this year. (You can expect the FBS group to expand to more than 12 teams – soon!)
The small college FCS playoff system gives a first-round bye to its top eight seeds.
This year, the top rated (and only unbeaten) team is 12-0 Montana State.
The Bobcats received a first-round bye followed by North Dakota State, South Dakota State, South Dakota, UC-Davis, Incarnate Word (Southland Conference), Mercer, and the University of Idaho.
The FCS winner in recent years has come from the Dakotas. Other than Sam Houston (2020) and James Madison (2016), eleven of the past 13 FCS champs have been from schools located in North or South Dakota.
This weekend, the remaining 16 teams begin their three-week series of elimination games to reach two final teams.
Each week, the highest seeded FCS team will host a lower seeded competitor all the way through the semifinals. That means some lengthy December journeys to the frigid upper Midwest as the four top seeded teams are located in North and South Dakota.
Talk about having a home field advantage!
The FCS title game will take place on Monday, January 6 at 7PM in Frisco, Texas just north of Dallas and televised (of course) by ESPN.
Don’t forget about the NCAA Division II playoffs!
The limited-scholarship (with a maximum of 36 for football) NCAA Division II features a whopping 23 conferences. After playing a ten game regular season schedule, the D-II playoffs have 28 teams in the field. The top four schools receive a first-round bye.
The title game will be played in McKinney, Texas (Dallas) on Saturday, December 21 at 1PM (CST) on ESPN2.
Last year, Harding University of Searcy, Arkansas took home the NCAA’s Division II trophy.
This year, the Bisons are back!
Now 11-1, they have already won two playoff games.
Harding travels to Big Rapids, Michigan this weekend to play Ferris State on Saturday, December 7. The 10-1 Ferris State Bulldogs won the D-II championship in 2021 and 2022. This should be a terrific match-up between the current and previous champion.
Last but not least, the non-scholarship Division III playoffs are underway!
Much like NCAA Division II, teams competing in the non-scholarship NCAA Division III play a ten-game regular season schedule prior to their playoffs.
The D-III playoffs are rather unique.
After the opening round has 16 play-in games, the survivors meet 24 well-rested competitors during Round #2. Due to this bloated 40-team playoff field, the D-III winner might have to play as many as six additional games to win the championship.
The NCAA Division III title game will be televised on Sunday, January 5, 2025 on ESPN.
Last year, the SUNY (State University of New York) Cortland Red Dragons won the title and are 11-0 thus far in 2024.
The Red Dragons are riding a 23-game winning streak – the longest in all divisions of college football.
On Saturday, unbeaten Cortland will host 11-0 Springfield (Massachusetts) in the quarterfinals. Something’s gotta give!
Enjoy ALL of the college football playoffs!