by Reid Duvall 27’

The first 12-team college football playoff concluded on January 20 when Ohio State defeated Notre Dame, 34-23, thanks to junior RB Quinshon Judkins’s three touchdowns. In 2014, college football introduced its first four-team playoff, a change fans desired to add a legitimate playoff element to the sport instead of continuing with the bowl-game format. However, the four-team system had several flaws. During the decade of the four-team playoff, only six different teams won championships, with Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia securing multiple titles. The issue of a few dominant teams only worsened due to the new portal system and NIL regulations, allowing top programs with more generous donors to seemingly control the player portal and acquire the most valuable athletes. Just 15 different programs participated in the four-team playoff, while this year, in the debut of the 12-team playoff, six teams made their college football playoff debuts. The 12-team bracket offers a unique format where the four highest-ranked conference champions had a bye, the highest-rated non-power conference team got a spot, and the remaining seven sports would be filled out with the top 7 non-conference winners in the country.

One of the exciting twists to the bracket was that the first round was played at the higher seeds’ home stadium, and holding postseason games with a real home team advantage adds more excitement. The rest of the games were played at traditional bowl games such as the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, etc. The home-field advantage factor was shown the most in the SMU at Penn State game. SMU, which is located in Dallas, had to travel to Penn State where they dealt with below-freezing temperatures and one of the loudest crowds in college football.

This new format has received a backlash because it gives teams with an easier schedule a better chance of making the playoffs than a team with a worse record that might have been more battle-tested during the regular season. For example, the College Football Selection Committee selected 11-1 Indiana, which played just one ranked opponent all year and lost by multiple scores in its playoff game against Notre Dame.

Along with a high percentage of fans, I believe that 9-3 SEC teams such as Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina were more deserving than Indiana or SMU because they each played multiple top-25 teams and also held ranked wins. Contrary to this opinion, you can say that Alabama and South Carolina both lost in their bowl games to lower-ranked teams. While this is true, a big part of it is players who opt out of bowl games to stay healthy to keep their NFL draft stock high or enter the transfer portal earlier than players on a team that made the playoffs.

Still, this playoff was a step in the right direction but there are improvements to be made. It had two teams that would not have made the four-team bracket in the national championship, which shows what can happen if more teams are given a chance. This new format allows fans to enjoy the playoffs without having to watch the same 5 or 6 teams every year. This will create more money and viewership for the sport, so with that being said I believe that the new college football playoff format was a success for fans and the sport itself.