As of the 2024 college football season, the NCAA introduced a new 12-team playoff bracket. This was a massive change compared to the four-team playoff introduced in 2014, which replaced the original Bowl Championship Series. Some say this new system is just a way to feed viewership into money-hungry ESPN. However, I think only giving four teams a shot at the National Championship is obnoxious and, quite frankly, can get uninteresting. Twelve teams mean twelve fan bases eagerly involved, eleven games played, and second chances for teams that deserve to at least compete.

The 12-team bracket consists of six automatic bids, meaning that six conference champions secure a playoff spot. The remaining six teams are selected by a committee based on their performance. Seeds 1 through 4 are given to the top conference champions and receive a bye for the first round. The following teams are placed in seeds 5 through 12, and the higher-seeded teams host the first round of games. The winners move on to the quarterfinals and so on until the championship game.

The idea of a 12-team college football playoff is honorable, but the execution was poor. After watching one playoff run with this new system, I was biasedly overjoyed with the outcome but disappointed in the setup. The Oregon Ducks were seeded at number 1 when the 2024 bracket came out. This earned them a bye for the first round. After a huge Michigan upset, Ohio State was seeded at number 8, which ended up hurting the Ducks. After Ohio State defeated Tennessee and remained fueled from their rivalry loss, their next game was against Oregon. In no world should the number one seed have to play the hottest and highest-performing team for its first game in the playoffs.

This is where the first fix must be made in the new 12-team playoff. After the first round of games is played, the winning teams should be re-ranked based on performance.

This is essential to making the new system work. When ranking teams in different conferences, it is difficult to determine overall skill rather than just ability within a single conference. Because of this, many errors are made in the initial rankings, but could easily be corrected after the first round. After seeing Ohio State blow out Tennessee, it should have been clear that their seed should be higher than 8 and that they should not be matched against the 1 seed. This is not because it is unfair for two-loss Ohio State, but because it is unreasonable for the “best team” in college football to play the team that had the best performance in the previous round.

So, following the first round of playoffs, the committee should come together and evaluate each winning team’s ability. Witnessing the level of play against other conferences should allow for more accurate seedings and fairer matchups.

This was not the only flaw in the new playoffs. After last year’s playoff run, it was clear that the four best teams should get a bye, not the four best conference champions. The Mountain West Conference is home to Boise State, which finished with a 7–0 conference record and a 12–2 record overall. This impressive team on paper was overwhelmed when faced against the Big Ten powerhouse Penn State. This new system is great because teams like Boise State and Arizona State now have a chance to be in the college football playoffs, but they should not get a bye simply because they won a relatively weak conference.

With the new changes being implemented and the promise of more to come, the 12-team playoff is poised to revolutionize college football. Expectations are even higher for a competitive playoff this year, and many teams are hoping for a ticket to the postseason.

“The idea of making them decide who is in and who is out among seven 11–1 teams, seven 10–2 teams, and 9–3 Texas would be sadistically entertaining,” said Pat Forde.