Breaking Down The College Football Playoff Format​: How It Works

It will be interesting to see how much tinkering is done behind the scenes now that the first champion in a 12-team playoff format has been crowned. Before the debut of the College Football Playoffs in 2014, the national championship team was determined in various ways, and we will explore the history and why the move was made to establish a playoff system.

Let’s take a closer look at the College Football Playoff format. Keep reading to learn more about the College Football Playoff.

Looking At The College Football Playoff

Who Gets Into The College Football Playoffs?

When the College Football Playoff was a four-team affair, the question was whether the SEC or the Big Ten would get two teams in the field or would conference champions get the benefit of the doubt.

Moving to 12 teams in the new CFP format is one step in the right direction. The winners of the five highest-ranked conferences earn spots in the 12-team College Football Playoffs, with the top four conference champions getting a bye into the quarterfinals.

With the Pac-12 being a victim of conference realignment, that leaves at least one of the champions from the Group of Five conferences getting into the CFP. Mountain West champion Boise State not only made the field in 2024 but also earned the No. 3 seed. The Broncos were placed ahead of the champions from the Big 12 and the ACC.

The other seven spots in this bowl championship format go to at-large teams. At one point, it looked like eight of the 12 teams in the 2024 CFP would be from the Big Ten and the SEC. When SMU lost to Clemson in the ACC title game, the Mustangs and Tigers earned CFP spots, leaving Alabama out.

How Does The CFP Schedule Work?

The top four seeds (all conference champions) receive byes into the quarterfinals. The teams seeded fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth get to play at home in the first round. Each home team won by at least 10 points in the first round in the current NCAAF playoff format.

It is hard to tell if it was merely a coincidence or if there was an advantage to the team that played in the first round, but each of the first-round winners won in the quarterfinals against teams that received a bye into the quarters.

The Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl hosted the semifinals, and the title game was held in Atlanta.

When Was The First National Championship Game?

After there were co-champions in both 1990 and 1991, there was growing support for some sort of championship game in college football. It was no easy task with conferences tied into certain bowl games in an era before NCAA football playoff expansion.

While there was no playoff format, on Jan. 1, 1993, No. 2 Alabama defeated No. 1 Miami 34-13 to win the national title as part of the Bowl Coalition.

That didn’t last for long. Florida State topped Nebraska 18-16 in the 1994 Orange Bowl to win the national championship, while the final Bowl Coalition saw Nebraska top Miami 24-17 in the 1995 Orange Bowl.

Next was the Bowl Alliance, with Nebraska winning two of the three titles in that format. In the other title game, Florida, out of the SEC, defeated ACC champion Florida State to win the title.

Will There Be More Expansion?

There is already talk about the College Football Playoff field being expanded to 14 teams.

The Big Ten and the SEC want two more teams added to the CFP field and guarantee that a minimum number of teams from their conferences will get spots in a 14-team field.

The top four seeds all lost in the quarterfinals after receiving a first-round bye, so perhaps there will be a call for more changes in the format.