12-team College Football playoff: Dates and format announced for 2024 NCAA CFP
It took some doing, but the CFP’s board appears to have finally given college football fans what they want, an expanded tournament with a new format.
From the moment that Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama were named as the four teams that would contest the 2023 College Football Playoff, there was intense debate about the structure of the CFP format.
The new CFP format explained
Following a unanimous decision by the College Football Playoff (CFP) Board of Managers, there has been a significant revision of the qualifying criteria for the 12-team event. The tournament will now include the five highest-ranked conference champions, in addition to the next seven highest-ranked teams as determined by the CFP Selection Committee.
“This is a very logical adjustment for the College Football Playoff based on the evolution of our conference structures since the board first adopted this new format in September 2022,” said Dr. Mark Keenum, President of Mississippi State University and Chair of the CFP Board of Managers. “I know this change will also be well received by student-athletes, coaches and fans. We all will be pleased to see this new format come to life on the field this postseason.” To be clear, the change is actually a slight departure from the original plan which would have seen each year’s bracket including the six highest-ranked conference champions, as well as the next six highest-ranked teams.
What we now have, is a situation where the the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four, with each being granted a first-round bye. Where the teams seeded five through 12 are concerned, they will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team i.e., No. 5 will host No. 12; No. 6 will play No. 11; No. 7 will take on No. 10; and team No. 8 will get down with No. 9.) The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in the New Year’s Six bowl games, while the national championship game itself will continue to be played at a neutral site. It’s very much worth noting that no conference will receive automatic qualification, nor will there be any limitation on how many teams can qualify from a single conference.
The CFP: Dates & Details
As mentioned above, the CFP quarterfinals and semifinals equate to the six bowl games that rotate annually: the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. This year’s quarterfinals will take place on December 31st, 2024, and January 1st, 2025. The CFP semifinals will be played on January 9th and 10th, 2025, and the College Football Playoff National Championship will kick off on Monday, January 20th, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.