By Turner Shield

Florida State football. Photo credit: Spc. Devron Bost, U.S. Army.

The College Football Playoff (CFP) happens at the end of the NCAA football regular season, after each conference title game, to decide which teams will compete for the title of national champion. The CFP currently is a playoff of only four teams, which means two semifinal games and then the championship. The College Football Playoff committee decides these four teams based on the total number of wins a team has and how challenging the team’s strength of schedule is. 

While there may be more than four undefeated teams in college football in a given season, if a team is undefeated but is not in a Power 5 conference, the team has less of a chance of getting in over a Power 5 conference team. In the current season, it came down to the five Power 5 conference championships to decide which teams would contend in the playoff.

In the first conference championship game, the University of Washington played the University of Oregon for the PAC-12 title. This game ended up with the 3rd-ranked Washington Huskies defeating the number 5-ranked Oregon Ducks 34 to 31 in a shootout, Washington securing a spot in the playoff and Oregon being knocked out.

In the Big-12 Championship game, The University of Texas Longhorns showed off against the Oklahoma State Cowboys to compete for a spot in the playoff. This game ended up being a blowout, as the 7th-ranked Texas took down Oklahoma State 49 to 21, putting Texas in the playoff. In the SEC (Southeastern Conference) championship game, the 8th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide played the number one Georgia Bulldogs. This game had two heavyweight contenders fighting for a spot in the playoff. The Crimson Tide knocked off the Georgia Bulldogs, giving them a shot at the playoff and knocking Georgia out.

In the Big-10 Championship game, the 2nd-ranked Michigan Wolverines topped off against the 16th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes to seal a top spot in the playoff. In the ACC Championship game, the 4th-ranked Florida State Seminoles faced off against the 14th-ranked Louisville Cardinals for a possible spot in the playoff. FSU beat Louisville 16 to 6, in what seemed to be a defensive game for FSU.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Photo credit: Ted Eytan via Wikimedia Commons.

On Dec. 3, the Sunday after the championship games, four teams were chosen to compete in the college football playoffs: Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama. Michigan plays Alabama in the Rose Bowl on January 1 at 5:00 p.m. EST, and Texas faces Washington in the Sugar Bowl the same day at 8:45 p.m. EST. The winners of those two games will face off for the national championship on Jan. 8 in Houston. FSU, an undefeated Power 5 champion, didn’t place in the playoff, which was very controversial. FSU has been degraded by the College Football Playoff Committee due to their star quarterback Jordan Travis tearing his ACL earlier in the season. Fans and the team felt snubbed by the committee. 

The current CFP system was first established in 2014, which created the first multiple-game tournament with single elimination in CFB history. The CFP was created after the end of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system, which was established in 1998. BCS determined the national championship game by having multiple teams play in bowl games, and the top two teams competed against each other for a national championship. 

Starting in 2024, the college football playoff will be expanded to include 12 teams instead of four. These games will also be decided by conference champions and which teams are ranked, based off a challenging schedule and a certain amount of wins. The first round of games will be played at the higher seeded teams’ home fields, while the quarterfinals and semifinals will be hosted in alternating bowls. The national championship game location will be determined by bids by prospective host sites. The first round games start on December 20 and 21, 2024, and the national championship game will be played on January 20, 2025. The new playoff system really expands the college football season, because it incorporates more games that matter more, with 12 teams playing. A team has to win at least three games to win the national championship, so it won’t be easy for the better teams, and more competitive teams will have a shot at the crown.