As all college football fans know, the College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams next season allowing for more teams to compete for a Championship. However, that is not the only new thing happening with the playoff next season.
At the end of the 2023 regular season, Florida State thought it had done everything it needed to in order to make it into the playoff. They went undefeated and won their conference, and not just any conference, a Power Five conference. Ultimately due to their weak strength of schedule and what most believe is that because they lost their quarterback Jordan Travis, the Seminoles did not make it in.
Georgia experienced something similar. The Bulldogs went undefeated in the SEC, the most competitive conference in college football, but fell to Alabama in the SEC Championship, a team that already had a loss, by three points. From that point, Georgia never had a chance to make it in.
So what changes are being made to change this? Well, the College Football Playoff is going to a 5-7 format.
OFFICIAL: The CFP Board of Managers unanimously revised the qualifying criteria for the 12-team event to include the five highest-ranked conference champions plus the next seven highest-ranked teams determined by the CFP Selection Committee.https://t.co/gUSXtwr39G#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/QQRVQPFJJB
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) February 20, 2024
This 5-7 format is kind of similar to how March Madness does thier tournament. March Madness has a lot more teams to begin with, but each conference champion gets an automatic bid to the tournament. Well, that is what the CFP will be, the five conference champions will have an automatic spot in the playoffs. As for the seven remaining spots, those will go to the seven next-best teams.
So teams that can't make conference championships due to divisions in the conference but have one of the best records in the conference have a chance to make it in now. I am looking at you Ohio State and Michigan. Teams that did not win their conference championship can make it in as well.
This may not benefit BYU right away because I believe the Cougars still have another year or two until they will be able to truly contend for a title in the Big 12, but anything is possible. The Cougars could come out and surprise everything like TCU did in 2022.