There is no doubt that this coming December will be the greatest December in college football history. For years, December actually peaked early with conference championship games in the first weekend, and then a slew of mid-to lower-tier bowl games until business picked back up in January for the big bowls. The 12 team College Football Playoff, though, will change all of that.
This year, we get first round playoff games on college campuses on December 20th and 21st. Let me repeat that — COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAMES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES! This is amazing! From there, it will feed into a quarterfinal round later in the month, and then into a final four teams in January.
It’s going to be epic, and college football is taking advantage of the buzz, as they did with the four team playoff the previous decade, by transparently sharing their rankings each week, so we can see what the playoff would look like “if the season ended today.” Here are the second set of weekly rankings, just released Tuesday night, and with a few observations afterwards:
1. Oregon 10-0
2. Ohio State 8-1
3. Texas 8-1
4. Penn State 8-1
5. Indiana 10-0
6. BYU 9-0
7. Tennessee 8-1
8. Notre Dame 8-1
9. Miami 9-1
10. Alabama 7-2
11. Mississippi 8-2
12. Georgia 7-2
13. Boise State 8-1
14. SMU 8-1
15. Texas A&M 7-2
16. Kansas State 7-2
17. Colorado 7-2
18. Washington State 8-1
19. Louisville 6-3
20. Clemson 7-2
21. South Carolina 6-3
22. LSU 6-3
23. Missouri 7-2
24. Army 9-0
25. Tulane 8-2
Okay, now here is where we do a little explaining for those unfamiliar with the format. The top four conference champions (all in BOLD above) are automatically seeded 1 through 4 for the playoff bracket. So 1st ranked Oregon (Big Ten), 3rd ranked Texans (SEC), 6th ranked BYU (Big XII), and 9th ranked Miami (ACC) are seeded 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the bracket and all receive a bye to the quarterfinals.
Also, the highest ranked non-Power Four conference champion, Boise State, gets an automatic bid. The remaining seven spots are filled out by the seven highest rated non-conference champions, which means these are the matchups for the first round, as of today. Keep in mind, the seeding on the playoff BRACKET will not match the ranking for the team in the Top 25, because of the preferential seeding for conference champions:
12. Boise State at 5. Ohio State (winner plays 4. Miami)
11. Ole Miss at 6. Penn State (winner plays 3. BYU)
10. Alabama at 7. Indiana (winner plays 2. Texas)
9. Notre Dame at 8. Tennessee (winner plays 1. Oregon)
Okay, a few reactions:
Texas schools are in prime position
Texas is getting some tremendous love from the committee here, as the top team in the SEC, and despite losing to South Carolina a couple weeks ago, the Aggies are still in a prime spot to control their own destiny into the SEC title game. That Texas vs Texas A&M game is going to be the hottest ticket in college football this season, if a spot in the conference title game is at stake. Meanwhile, SMU, in their first season in the ACC, also controls their destiny, as winning out and winning the ACC would net them a top four seed, in all likelihood.
Look at Coach Prime!
If you’re looking for a fun story lurking outside of the 12 teams who make it onto the bracket, Deion Sanders’ program at Colorado is finally living up to what he seemed to think it was last season when they went 4-8. There was a lot of bluster from Coach Prime amid last season’s mediocre showing. Now, it seems like Coach Prime has simmered down as his team has heated up. Colorado can win their way into the tournament by winning out in the Big XII and taking the conference title game. The networks are rooting hard for this.
Realignment has thrown confusion into all this
It’s still so weird to see a ranking where the headline is “Big Ten has four of top five teams in CFP rankings,” and one of those teams is Oregon. In fact, it’s not out of the question that the four conference champions from Power Four conferences could go like this:
BIG TEN: Oregon
BIG XII: Colorado
ACC: SMU
SEC: Texas
None of those four schools were in those conferences a year ago. THAT is wild.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
