ESPN revealed a hypothetical 12-team College Football Playoff with 2023 contenders
The College Football Playoff won’t expand to 12 teams until next season, but ESPN’s College GameDay gave fans a tease of what that field might look like with this year’s teams as they stand.
Rather than just have the top four programs contend for the championship, next season will see 12 teams get a chance at bragging rights as the nation’s best college football team.
Per Sporting News, the format already has parameters in place for how teams will be selected for the 12 possible playoff spots.
“The 12-team format will feature, in order, the top four conference champions, followed by some combination of the top six at-large bids and two highest-ranked remaining conference champions,” the website explains. “Teams will be ordered based on the College Football Playoff rankings.
“That guarantees at least one ‘Group of 5’ team will make the Playoff each year and, while it’s unlikely, allows the possibility of more than one G5 team making the Playoff in lieu of a ‘Power 5’ team.”
That’s why, in this graphic, Air Force would qualify as a playoff team right now and Ole Miss and Utah would not.
What a 12 team CFP would potentially look like this season #CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/nAdFnlqpsz
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 28, 2023
This is a fascinating window into what the future will look like for the sport, and college football fans were very into what’s coming down the road.