With CFB's 12-Team Playoff Set, the Format Is Poised to Bring the Game to New Heights

On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff confirmed the inevitable. With the Pac-12 essentially dissolving, the shiny new postseason that will begin this upcoming year was altered before it could ever really start.

And just like that, the future of the sport, at least for the time being, was crystalized.

The five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large teams will now make up the 12-team postseason. Originally, the format provided the six highest-ranked conference champions access.

The destruction of the Pac-12, however, altered those plans.

"This is a very logical adjustment for the College Football Playoff based on the evolution of our conference structures since the board first adopted this new format in September 2022," Mark Keenum, Mississippi State president and chair of the CFP Board of Managers, said in a statement. "I know this change will also be well received by student-athletes, coaches and fans."

As the offseason slugs along, this new format will continue to be dissected and debated in the months to come. Although make no mistake about it: This is a much better alternative that is poised to continue to grow college football's already booming popularity.

Here's why.

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Welcome to the Bubble Frenzy

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Given the calendar, it feels somewhat appropriate to start with some parallels that have helped shape college basketball's postseason—the greatest, most random postseason in all of sports.

Increasing the number of teams included won't devalue the regular season. For a team like Georgia, perhaps it might in some instances. You'll have some elite teams with guaranteed access late in the year. Truth be told, we have experienced that already with only four teams.

On the flip side, the race for these seven at-large bids will be extraordinary. The new format change along with the additional vacancy will only add to the frenzy, giving teams up and down the Top 25 hope that they could play their way into the postseason.

College football has never had anything like this, so it's hard to size up the true impact. But given how few teams have made the playoff since its inception, the importance of this philosophical shift is hard to overstate.

The last month of the season is going to be absolute chaos, and the number of hopeful participants is about to soar. It's going to be a sight to be seen.

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Playoff Games at College Football Venues are Coming

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This part hasn't changed since the Pac-12's demise, but it doesn't mean it still can't be celebrated. As part of the new postseason, games on college football campuses will be a fixture of the format.

The four highest-ranked playoff teams will earn first-round byes, giving them an instant path to the next round. The next four teams will host a first-round game, which should create a series of wild scenes for years to come.

Simply put, we've never seen games in these types of venues that matter this much. From the atmosphere to the weather to the stakes, the ultimate concoction as a result of these games should create a slew of ravenous environments.

There is nothing in sports like a meaningful college football game in a college football town. The fact that the playoff will tap into the sport's greatest commodity is brilliant and welcomed.

Also, some advice to teams: Don't end up outside the Top Eight. The path will be treacherous.

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Group of Five Teams Will (Officially) Have a Seat at the Table

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To some, this might serve as a negative.

Many don't see the value of non-blue blood programs making their way into a postseason, regardless of size. But creating a portal for college football "Cinderellas," much like the ones we are about to spend a month worshiping in college basketball, is a much-welcomed development.

If nothing else, it will provide variety. Teams outside major conferences will look at their seasons differently. As such, we will in turn look at their opportunity from a completely different vantage point.

Although the prospects of these teams making a deep playoff run might seem unlikely from the onset, we no longer have to wonder. An expanded playoff field will give all teams fair access. The games will indeed matter, and the results will tell the story.

With that will come intrigue, and that intrigue will manifest in new forms every year.

If nothing else, this is a far more fair and legitimate way to build a postseason. Beyond that, however, we will have tremendous teams with tremendous journeys, each with a chance to rip off an upset that could take the college football world by storm.

Sign us up.

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More Football? More Football

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In recent years, December has largely been dedicated to coaching searches, the transfer portal and the bowl season. It has become a frenzy in its own right without an expanded postseason, although now it's poised to take on new life.

The first-round games will be played on December 20 and 21, getting us out the gate during the holiday madness. The quarterfinals will then be played on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

From there, the semifinals, which are made up of the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl this season, will take place on January 9 and 10.

Finally, the national championship will conclude on January 20.

Depending on the year—and specifically when NFL games will be played—this calendar will evolve. But the general theme will largely remain. For essentially one month, our lives will be inundated with tremendous football week after week.

There are more games with meaning, more rounds, more fanbases, more betting opportunities and more ways to pour ourselves into the greatest sport on the planet.

If nothing else about this new format excites you, this should. The new College Football Playoff, which has now been finalized, will give us more of what we know and love.

What a month it shall be.