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This college football season has been an exciting one through nine weeks of the season, and we finally got some clarity on where each team stands on Tuesday night. Up to this point, the rankings were based on the AP Poll, which doesn't actually mean anything. Now, the College Football Playoff rankings are out, and there were some notable changes. In the AP Poll, Georgia football and Michigan football had been #1 and #2 all season long, but they actually came in at #2 and #3 in the College Football Playoff rankings as Ohio State football came in at #1. Florida State football took the final #4 spot. It's going to be a fun finish to the regular season.
One thing to keep in mind is that this is the final season of the four-team playoff format, and next year, there will be 12 teams. There will be six automatic bids for the six highest ranked conference champions, and there will be six at-large bids. The top four teams will get byes in the first round, and seeds 5-8 will host a playoff game in the first round. It's going to be a fun new setup, and if that setup was done with Tuesday's rankings, the bracket would look like this:
Using tonight’s rankings, here’s how a 12-team playoff would look based on the approved 6+6 format.
Format rules:
*6 auto bids to highest ranked conference champs
*6 at-large bids to next highest ranked teams
*top 4 champs get byes
*5-8 seeds host on-campus 1st round games pic.twitter.com/u2oTAdXlBe— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 31, 2023
There are lot of good matchups in there, so let's predict the outcome of that bracket just for fun.
CFP first round
The first round of the CFP next season is going to be a ton of fun. Playoff games already bring an unmatched energy, but bringing them to college campuses will add a completely different element. One element is the weather. For example, in this bracket, Tulane would have to travel north and play in Ann Arbor, Michigan in December. Those are the types of things that will make this playoff format so fun.
In this bracket, I would pick Alabama, Michigan, Texas and Oregon to advance. Boring picks? Maybe. However, those teams would have good chances of coming out on top in those games.
CFP quarterfinals
The quarterfinal round next season will move away from campuses, and they will be played at four out of the six New Year's Six bowl games. Those quarterfinals in this bracket would be a ton of fun, and I would pick Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia and Oregon to advance into the semis. Almost had the top four make it, but Oregon has looked like a tremendous team this season, and they could pull off that upset against Florida State. This would make for a terrific semifinal.
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CFP semifinals
The CFP semis will be played at the other two NY6 bowl game locations, so all six games will be part of the playoff bracket. In this final four, we have an Ohio State-Michigan rematch, and a battle between Oregon and Georgia. At some point, we really will get an Ohio State-Michigan rematch in the playoff, and it's going to be awesome. It almost happened last year in the national championship game, and it would've been maybe the biggest college football game ever.
In these semis, I would take Michigan and Oregon to advance to the national championship. Two great quarterbacks, and two great teams.
CFP national championship
I'm picking Michigan to win this one, and I'm also picking Michigan to win the national championship this season. The Wolverines have looked like the most complete and consistent team this season, and they appear to have all the tools to win a championship.
This is all hypothetical, and the 12-team playoff for next season will obviously look much different than this. Even if it was this year, it would still look much different than this. Still, it's interesting to see each College Football Playoff rankings and compare it with how it would look in a 12-team format. Next season is going to be exciting.
