There was no right choice, and the deserving would be ignored.
The College Football Playoff committee was planning to count out undefeated ACC champion Florida State, which hasn't been the same since star quarterback Jordan Travis left the team with a season-ending leg injury in the last week of November.
Or perhaps Alabama wouldn't make the list because of its one loss, a stunning upset of back-to-back national champions and No. 1 ranked Georgia, who some even felt still deserved to be on the list if the goal was to pick the final four teams.
Those issues are now a thing of the past, as the playoffs were expanded to 12 teams this year, giving the sports world its first true postseason tournament.
For the first time, there will be a Cinderella at the table. The winner of the highest-ranked conference from the Group of Five will receive an automatic berth, along with the winners from the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12. The remaining seven spots will be filled by at-large teams. Adding to the excitement, the first-round games will be played on campus.
Florida State's DJ Uiagalelei prepares to hand off the ball during a game against Georgia Tech at Aviva Stadium. Tom Maher/INPHO via USA Today Sports
Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh succinctly summed up the looming changes last December:
“It's going to get better,” he said.
The same can be said about the state of the sports world, which is undergoing major restructuring.
With USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon joining the Big Ten and Texas and Oklahoma joining the latter, there are now two super leagues: the Big Ten and the SEC.
With UC, SMU and Stanford moving to the ACC and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah becoming members of the Big 12, the Pac-12 is now the Pac-2 (Oregon State and Washington State).
With a 12-team playoff and new conferences offering more high-profile matchups, college football is looking very different and more inclusive. With better competition and the addition of a champion team, it will no doubt increase interest.
Sound familiar? You're right.
“A lot of critics say college football is just like the NFL. What's wrong with that?,” Paul Finebaum, an ESPN college football analyst and longtime SEC historian, told The Washington Post by phone. “The NFL is the most successful sport in the country, and there's a reason for that: It has a playoff system with a lot of different teams in it.”
“Instead of five or six schools competing for a playoff spot in college football, now there are countless schools competing, competing for different things. It's not just about making the playoff like it used to be. Do we get a first-round waiver? Do we play at home? That's the oxygen that's fueled the NFL season these past few weeks, and the same will be true here.”
SMU quarterback Preston Stone smiles during an NCAA college football practice in Dallas, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. AP
Of course, the new system isn't perfect. Historic rivalries will be lost. There will be more travel. Some parts of the regular season may take a hit. Critical matchups between elite teams are all but gone.
For example, two of the last three Michigan-Ohio State matchups have been all-or-nothing contests, with the winner clinching the Big Ten championship and a playoff berth and the loser going to an unrelated bowl game.The exact same pressure played out in last December's SEC championship game between Georgia and Alabama.
That's the price to pay for an improved product.
In the 10 years that the four-team playoff format has been in place, only 15 schools have been selected. Five schools — Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Georgia and Michigan — accounted for 29 of the 40 schools eligible to play.
Cincinnati, of the American Athletic Conference, a non-power conference university, made the playoff in 2021. Notre Dame, an independent school, is unique in that regard.
The new format offers hope to programs in powerhouse second-tier conferences that previously never had realistic dreams of making the playoffs.
It gives you more room for error, and if you make winning the conference your number one priority, it guarantees you a playoff berth.
“The excitement that I've seen and am seeing from fans in our sport is that there's a growing fan base that is genuinely excited about the possibility of making the playoffs, which certainly hasn't been the case before,” Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt said. “I have a really good feeling that by the time we get to November, there will be about 30 teams that feel like they have a legitimate path to the playoffs, which has never happened before in college football.”
“So we have an opportunity for not only Oregon vs. Ohio State and Texas vs. Georgia, but also teams like Iowa, Kansas and Missouri to have some really important, impactful, big-time games at the end of the year.”
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Devin Smith (9) catches a touchdown pass behind Cincinnati Bearcats safety Zach Edwards (22) during the fourth quarter of an NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Sept. 27, 2014. Adam Cairns/USA Today Network
College basketball has “March Madness.” College football will soon have “December Drama.” A new era is dawning.
“Frankly, I think this is the most dramatic and exciting college football season of probably anybody's lifetime. We've never been in anything like this before,” Finebaum said. “It's a breathtaking time for the sports world.”
