College Football Playoff Format 2023-24: How Many Teams Are In, When Does 12-Team Playoff Start and More

Ever since Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama were named the four teams to make the 2023 College Football Playoff, there has been ongoing discussion about the CFP format.

Now that New Year’s Day has arrived, today’s the day that No. 1 Michigan (13-0) will play No. 4 Alabama (12-1) in the Rose Bowl Game while No. 2 Washington (13-0) will play No. 3 Texas (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl. Despite finishing their season undefeated at 13-0, Florida State finished at No. 5 overall and will not get to compete in the playoff (they’ll be in the Orange Bowl against Georgia).

When undefeated Florida State (which also beat two non-conference SEC teams this season) was left out of the playoff, many began to look excitedly ahead to the changing College Football Playoff format. Next year, for the first time, the College Football Playoff will expand to include 12 teams.

Let’s take a closer look at the end of the CFP format as we know it and the changes to expect next season.

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What teams are in the 2023-24 College Football Playoff?

Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama are the teams that make up the final year of the four-team playoff field. The matchups for the semifinals, both scheduled for New Year’s Day, are as follows:

• Rose Bowl: No. 1 Michigan vs No. 4 Alabama
• Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Washington vs No. 3 Texas

When does the expanded College Football Playoff start?

The expanded, 12-team format will begin in the 2024 season. This current 2023-24 season is the final iteration of the four-team playoff.

How will the 12-team format for the College Football Playoff work?

The College Football Playoff will expand from four teams to 12 next season. This version of the playoff field will include the six highest-ranked conference champions. Those teams will receive automatic bids. The top four teams will receive a first-round bye to the quarterfinals. The six highest-ranked remaining teams will fill out the rest of the 12-team format.

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Where will College Football Playoff games be played in the new format?

The lower seed will select the host venue during the first round of the playoff. The quarterfinal game will consist of bowl games. The semifinals will be played in bowls on a rotating basis and the national championship will continue to be played at a neutral site and will be determined through bids by prospective sites.

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What would the expanded College Football Playoff have looked like this season?

First-round games:

No. 12 Liberty at No. 5 Florida State

No. 11 Mississippi at No. 6 Georgia

No. 10 Penn State at No. 7 Ohio State

No. 9 Missouri at No. 8 Oregon

Quarterfinal games:

Oregon-Missouri winner vs. No. 1 Michigan

Ohio State-Penn State winner vs. No. 2 Washington

Georgia-Mississippi winner vs. No. 3 Texas

Florida State-Liberty winner vs. No. 4 Alabama

Semifinal games:

Oregon or Missouri or Michigan vs. Florida State or Liberty or Alabama

Ohio State or Penn State or Washington vs. Georgia or Mississippi or Texas

Championship game:

The Playoff championship game will feature the semifinal winners.

What is the CFP schedule for the 2024 season?

What is the CFP schedule for the 2025 season?

What is the history of the College Football Playoff format?

Before the College Football Playoff, there was the Bowl Championship Series. The BCS was created in 1999 and it consisted of four bowl games: Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange. The teams selected to participate in these four games were determined by averaging the results of the final weekly Coaches’ Poll, the Harris Poll, former players and coaches and the average of six computer rankings. The Coaches’ Poll was required in its bylaws to name the winner of the BCS National Championship Game as its No. 1 team on the final postseason ranking.

In most years, the winner of the BCS National Championship game would also be the designated champion by other polls and organizations. But the 2003 season was a notable exception. Because the BCS rankings chose the AP’s No. 3-ranked team over the first-ranked team, LSU ended up winning the BCS National Championship while USC won the AP national championship.

Like the BCS, the four-team CFP format has also proven to be controversial over the years.

The College Football Playoff format as we now know it took effect in 2014. The CFP format uses a four-team knockout bracket to determine the national champion. The semifinals rotate among six bowls: Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar. The four teams selected are determined by the 13-member CFP selection committee.

Does conference realignment impact the expanded College Football Playoff?

When the structure of the expanded CFP was first envisioned, the six automatic bids for conference champions was designed to ensure that each Power 5 league would have a seat at the table.

This was before the Pac-12 was down to only two teams though.

USC and UCLA were the first teams to exit the Pac-12. This past offseason, the University of Oregon and University of Washington announced they were moving to the Big Ten. Next season, the Big Ten will be the largest conference in the country with 18 total teams.

Meanwhile, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State are headed to the Big 12. That conference will have 16 total teams in 2024.

Stanford and California will joins the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024, leaving just Oregon State and Washington State as the two teams left standing in the Pac-12.

While no formal change has been made to the expanded CFP format, the fact remains that the new format was designed with a much different Pac-12 conference in mind.