12 Team Playoff Predictions
12 Team Playoff Predictions
By Jace Hinton November 27, 2024 15:54
The new 12-team format is something college football has never seen, just like when the four-team playoff came to college football, and the BCS did as well. But how does the 12-team system work, what teams should be considered dark horses or frauds, and who is the favorite to win in the newly adjusted playoff?
How does the rankings system work?
The College Football Playoff (CFP) website explains the playoff system: The 12 participating teams will be the five conference champions ranked highest by the CFP selection committee, plus the following seven highest-ranked teams. A selection committee will continue to rank the teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and receive a first-round bye. The fifth conference champion will be seeded where it was ranked or at No. 12 if it is outside the top 12 rankings. Non-conference champions ranked in the top four will be seeded beginning at No. 5. Because of this, the seeding, 1 through 12, could look different than the final rankings. The eight teams seeded No. 5-12 will play in a first round, with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No. 8.) Which means we will have playoff style football on college campuses. The selection committee will assign the four highest-ranked conference champions to Playoff Quarterfinals hosted by bowls. This will be done in consideration of historic bowl relationships and rankings. For example, if the Sugar Bowl hosts a Playoff Quarter Final and the SEC champion is ranked No. 1 and the Big 12 champion is ranked No. 3, the SEC champion would be assigned to the Sugar Bowl and the Big 12 champion would be assigned elsewhere. With the four highest-ranked conference champions assigned to bowls, their four Playoff Quarter Final opponents will be dictated by the bracket (i.e., No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 winner, No. 4 vs. No. 5/12 winner, No. 2 vs. 7/10 winner; No. 3 vs. 6/11 winner.)The College Football Playoff bracket will follow the selection committee's rankings, with no modifications made to avoid rematches between teams that may have played during the regular season or are from the same conference. The bracket will remain in effect throughout the playoff (i.e., no re-seeding).]
Who are Currently the predicted Conference Champions?
As of the rankings 11/26/24, the committee has the following list of teams as their respective conference champs.
# = seeding
BIG 12: Arizona State (ASU) #12
B1G: Oregon #1
SEC: Texas #2
ACC: Miami (FL) #3
Group of 5 contenders: Boise ST ( Mountain West) #4
So those teams 1-4 have the first round bye which currently means the BIG 12 champion traveling to the five seed.
Teams 5-11 are followed
by #5 Ohio State,
#6 Penn State,
#7 Notre Dame
#8 Georgia (UGA)
#9 Tennessee
#10 Southern Methodist (SMU)
#11 Indiana
So you have
ASU AT Ohio State
SMU AT Notre Dame
Indiana AT Penn State
Tennessee AT UGA
Dark Horse:
There are two dark horses in the current playoff race: one team is in the projected playoff, and one is on the outside of the playoff. The scariest team in the playoff is Arizona State. They are the current projected BIG 12 champion and have been on a red-hot roll for the last few weeks. However, the goal for ASU has to be to win the BIG 12 because the winner is automatically in, and the only way the BIG 12 will have any team is for the conference champ to get in. A team on the outside is Texas A&M, especially if they beat Texas this weekend and win the SEC. A&M is one of those schools who came out of nowhere to dominate for most of the season; obviously, there were a couple of losses to some good teams in Notre Dame and South Carolina, and their only lousy loss was to Auburn. Look out for the Aggies.
Front Runner:
The Oregon Ducks have been the best team in college football all season long; however, I am not convinced they are the best. However, with their record and dominance in undoubtedly all their games except for Ohio State, they are everyone's front-runner but not mine. In Austin, Texas, a football team has played better competition and more meaningful games than the Oregon Ducks have the Texas Longhorns. They are the scariest team in college football outside of Colorado, and all their weapons because it does not matter who is under center for the Horns. They are still in excellent hands.
Sleeper Team:
My sleeper team is the most slept-on team in the country and is currently the best B1G team in the country. The Ohio State Buckeyes—yes, Oregon beat them, but if you watched the game on the tape, Ohio State was in control. If Will Howard does not slide as late as he did, Ohio State wins that football game. That is undeniable. We will see the Buckeyes and Ducks in the B1G championship game, and I have a feeling my point will be proven.
Snubbed:
Clemson was snubbed out of the playoffs. They have two losses, one to UGA, who is a playoff team, no doubt, and one to Louisville, which is not a terrible loss. They also play in an actual conference, so there is that. Notre Dame does not play in the conference and has a bad loss to a MAC team that is middle of the pack in the MAC in Northern Illinois.
In and shouldn't be:
Notre Dame should not be in because they do not play in a conference. The Irish should only be allowed in the playoff if they are in a conference. They play a predominant schedule, so the rest of their school is in the ACC. If they just joined the ACC and won, they could be in the playoffs but not as an independent team, especially since they don't have to worry about a conference championship.
Ultimate Winner:
The Texas Longhorns will be the national champions at the end of the season because they have been in more big games this season. Head coach Steve Sarkisian has these players built for big games and the SEC. The Horns are battle-tested and built for battle.
Rivalry week is here, and it could and possibly will shake up all of these rankings because no matter what happens in college football, rivalry week will always shake things up. Catch all the action all weekend with games starting on Thursday and the Annual Egg Bowl on Friday to kick off your rivalry weekend.
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