The 2024 College Football Playoffs are here

The College Football Playoffs (CFP) have arrived. From 2014 to 2023, the playoffs only included four teams, practically forcing teams to win their conference or have one loss at most in order to earn a spot. This year, the playoffs have expanded to 12 teams, allowing eight more teams to have the opportunity to compete for a national title.

How does the 12-Team Playoff Work?

With the transition from a four-team to 12-team playoff, there have been some notable changes. 

First, how the teams qualify has changed. The five highest-ranked conference champions will receive automatic bids. The remaining seven highest-ranked teams overall will round out the 12-team format. Out of the five highest-ranked conference champions, the four highest will be seeded numbers one through four, and receive a first-round bye.

Here are the 12 teams that are in the playoffs:

1. Oregon (Big Ten Champion)
2. Georgia (SEC Champion)
3. Boise State (Mountain West Champion)
4. Arizona State (Big 12 Champion)
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Notre Dame
8. Ohio State
9. Tennessee
10. Indiana
11. SMU
12. Clemson (ACC Champion)

Second, the locations of the games have changed. The Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl will serve as the quarter finals, while the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will serve as the semifinals. Seeds 5-12 will play in the first round. The higher-seeded teams—No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Notre Dame, and No. 8 Ohio State—will host their first round games.

Below are some of our takes on the CFP bracket.

Ben’s favorites: Oregon Ducks and Georgia Bulldogs

The Oregon Ducks, led by Quarterback Dillon Gabriel (Sr.), look to win the team’s first National Championship in program history. The Ducks defeated Penn State in the Big Ten championship 45-37 to win their first ever Big Ten championship. This was the Ducks’ first year in the Big Ten. They were originally in the Pac-12; however, conference realignment found them in the Big Ten. Oregon has key wins over Ohio State, Illinois, and Penn State. The Ducks rely on their explosive offense, led by QB Dillon Gabriel and followed by Running Back Jordan James (Jr.) and Wide Receiver Tez Johnson (Sr.). The Ducks also have a solid defense, led by Linebacker Bryce Boettcher (Sr.), who leads the team in tackles with 87, and Cornerback Tysheem Johnson (Sr.), who has three interceptions.

The Georgia Bulldogs are the No.2 seed, following their win against Texas in the SEC championship. Despite having an early loss to Alabama and a loss later in the year to Ole Miss, the Bulldogs are undoubtedly one of the strongest and toughest teams in the country. In the SEC championship game, their starting Quarterback Carson Beck (Sr.) went down with an injury at the end of the first half, and missed the second half and overtime of that game. Backup Quarterback Gunner Stockton (So.) came in and won the game for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs rely on their tough defense to keep up in close games and look to utilize the running game as well as the short passing game to move their offense down the field. 

Ben’s Sleeper Team: Notre Dame Fighting Irish #7

After suffering an early upset loss against Northern Illinois, doubts rose over the Fighting Irish and how legit they were as a team. The week before, they played at Texas A&M, one of the toughest places to play in college football, and won 23-13. After suffering the embarrassment of that loss to Northern Illinois, the Fighting Irish did not lose a game for the rest of the season. The Fighting Irish are one of the few teams that are not in a specific conference, meaning that they schedule all 12 of their games individually, choosing who they play. This is both a curse and a blessing. This means that they cannot receive a top-four seed in the bracket and earn themselves a bye because they are not in a specific conference. However, this means that they can create an “easier schedule”. They take on No.10 Indiana first, a team that some college football analysts said should not have made the CFP due to their weak schedule and embarrassing loss to Ohio State. If the Fighting Irish win, they will then take on No.2 Georgia, which might be without its starting quarterback. This is not a very challenging path for Notre Dame, so a chance for them to make some noise in the playoffs is very possible.

Noah doesn’t know what to expect: Boise State Broncos and Arizona State Sun Devils

The Boise State Broncos (12-1), earned themselves the No.3 seed. They will play the winner of No.6 Penn State and No.11 SMU. Boise State got to the three seed after winning the Mountain West Championship against UNLV, 21-7. All the talk about this team has been about their star Running Back Ashton Jeanty (Jr.). Jeanty finished the regular season with 2,497 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns. He finished second in the Heisman voting as well. The question that looms over the Broncos’ head is, how will they do at the No.3 seed?. People do not know what to expect here. The main issue people have with them is that they have played weaker competition; but, people forget that they took the Oregon Ducks to the final seconds of their matchup. Oregon won the matchup 37-34 on a game winning field goal. No team has been able to find an answer for Jeanty. If teams cannot find an answer for Ashton Jeanty, this Broncos team could see themselves in a deep playoff run.

The Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2) won the Big 12 Conference Championship, after being projected to finish last in the conference. This has been a historic season for the Sun Devils, and they have been led by Running Back Cam Skattebo (Sr.). In the regular season, he had 2,074 total yards and 22 total touchdowns. Arizona State started the season 5-2, with one of the losses coming without their starting Quarterback in Sam Leavitt (Fr.) due to injury. They would then go on to win six straight games, including three ranked wins against No.16 Kansas State, No.14 BYU, and No.16 Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship. Arizona State has proven they can beat good competition, but are yet to face the top-tier competition that their path to the CFP has. They would have to play teams like No.1 Oregon, No.4 Texas, No.8 Ohio State just to reach the championship.

Noah’s team on upset watch: Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns have been struggling as of late. After being embarrassed by No.5 Georgia on October 19th, where their starting Quarterback Quinn Ewers (Jr.) was benched in the first half, the Longhorns’ decline began. Even though Quinn Ewers earned the starting job back, the Longhorns barely beat a 6-6 Vanderbilt team, winning 27-24. They then squeezed by against a 6-6 Arkansas team just two weeks later. In the final week of the regular season, they barely escaped No.20 Texas A&M, and then lost the SEC Championship to No.5 Georgia, even with Georgia’s Quarterback Carson Beck (Sr.) getting injured and not playing in the second half or overtime. Texas’s offense has not looked good at all. Their defense has been doing its job, but it is hard to win games while the offense is unable to produce points, even if your defense is getting the stops you need. No.5 Texas plays No.12 Clemson in the first round of the CFP, who just defeated No.8 SMU in the ACC Championship. If Clemson can keep up its strong play, the team could see itself upsetting the No.5 Texas Longhorns.

Ben’s game that can go either way: Tennessee Volunteers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State and Tennessee will set up for an extremely exciting matchup. Both of these teams suffered bad losses this season: Tennessee lost to Arkansas, while Ohio State lost to Michigan. Both teams have also lost to the top teams in the CFP. Ohio State lost to Oregon, and Tennessee lost to Georgia. The Volunteers are led by Quarterback Nico Iamaleava (Fr.) and Running Back Dylan Sampson (Jr.). Their defense has been solid all year, with Linebacker Arion Carter (So.) leading the defense in sacks with 65. Despite its last loss to Michigan, Ohio State is still a very good football team, led by Quarterback Will Howard (Sr.) along with the star-studded wide receiver room of Emeka Egbuka (Sr.), Jeremiah Smith (Fr.), and Carnell Tate (So.). OSU also has Cornerback Denzel Burke (Sr.), who can cover the other team’s best receiver, as well as Safety Caleb Downs (So.), who is key in both the defensive pass game and run game.