From September through the beginning of December, college football is the most important thing in many people’s lives. Sadly, for the past handful of seasons, it was a foregone conclusion who would fight for the title by October.
Fortunately, that will change with the new 12-team CFB Playoff, so let us explain which schools benefit the most from an expanded CFB playoff.
Pac-12 inclusion
The CFB Playoff continues to be cruel to the Pac-12 Conference. Since the four-team playoff structure debuted in 2014, only two Pac-12 teams have had the opportunity to compete for the national championship.
The conference hasn’t sniffed the playoffs since Alabama waxed Washington in 2016. But now, the Pac-12 will get an automatic bid in the new 12-team CFB Playoff.
Even with USC and UCLA moving to the Big 10 in 2024, other schools like Utah, Oregon, and Washington will get to stake their claim as the conference representative.
ACC sans Clemson
Ever since Jameis Winston and Florida State had their reign in the ACC, Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers have taken the torch and run with it. For the past few years, the ACC seems to come down to Clemson and whomever they want to demolish in the ACC Championship game.
If Clemson’s opponent was top 10 in the rankings before they inevitably lost, there was no chance they would make the playoffs. However, with several at-large bids now available, the second-tier ACC teams can get in.
New blood for the Big 10?
Although the Big 10 has had more success in getting new blood in the four-team tournament, there is usually a large gap between Ohio State and the rest of the conference. Michigan has had success recently, including two straight wins over the Buckeyes, but their embarrassing loss to TCU could leave a bad taste in the committee’s mouth.
Ohio State also benefits from the change because it gives them some leeway from having a hiccup during the regular season. Last year, the Buckeyes were on the outside looking in going into championship week, needing help from Utah to sneak in as the fourth seed. If there were a 12-team playoff, they wouldn’t have had to bite their nails watching the Utes take on the Trojans.
“Group of 5” schools
The “Group of 5” consists of the non-power conferences and would continually get the short end of the stick by the committee. And the one time the committee threw them a bone, they had Cincinnati take on a stacked Alabama team.
If the system stayed at four teams, it would take a 2007-type season for another Group of 5 team to get in the playoffs. Luckily, the upcoming playoff will have the best representative from the Group of 5 in the playoff every year.
In the middle of the SEC
It’s no secret that the SEC is the best conference in college football. Every season, two teams from the conference — usually Alabama and somebody else — will get in, leaving the middle-of-the-road SEC teams in the dust.
Since the committee thinks of the SEC so fondly, those teams hanging on to a top 15 ranking could get into the tournament. And similar to Ohio State, it’s a virtual lock Alabama, Georgia, and potentially LSU will be mainstays in this format.
Learning which schools benefit the most from an expanded CFB Playoff proves that the change will bring more excitement to the sport. While we doubt a team outside the top 10 will threaten for a title, at least they will get the chance to do so.
