The 2024 season will bring about major changes to the sport. Most notable, of course, is the College Football Playoff tripling in size from four to 12 teams. The format will reward the four highest-ranked conference champions with the top four seeds and byes to the quarterfinals.
Because the byes will be handed to conference champions, it’s possible the teams that earn byes will not actually be the four highest-rated teams in the final CFP Rankings. In our CBS Sports preseason projection, only two of the top four teams, No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State, receive byes to the quarterfinals. The other teams skipping the first round are No. 7 Utah and No. 8 Florida State, projected champions of the Big 12 and ACC, respectively.
That means No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Oregon would host first-round games as the respective fifth and sixth seeds. No. 5 Alabama and No. 6 Texas A&M are the seventh and eighth seeds, respectively. Yes, that is four SEC teams among the top six teams in the rankings. The Crimson Tide and Aggies do not play each other in the regular season, which helps to make this possible.
The Big Ten is the only other conference with more than two teams in the projected playoff. Penn State would play at Texas A&M in the first round. The fifth conference champion in the playoff will be the highest-rated Group of Five league winner; Boise State holds that projection, but as it is not projected high in the final CFP Rankings, would take the 12th and final seed.
Let’s take a look at how this shakes out.
College Football Playoff
Quarterfinals
Jan. 1
Sugar Bowl
New Orleans
(1) Georgia vs. (8/9) Winner
Jan. 1
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, Calif.
(2) Ohio State vs. (7/10) Winner
Jan. 1
Peach…
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