Explainer: How the College Football Playoff rankings are determined
College football’s national champion is about to be determined in a whole new way.
College football’s national champion is about to be determined in a whole new way.
Following a decade of a four-team playoff format, the 2024 season is the first to use an expanded, 12-team field for the College Football Playoff.
Just as expansion has opened more pathways to a title for more teams, it has also created more room for debate about who should get in, who should be left out and where the games will be played. Let’s get into it.
The College Football Playoff has used a selection committee since its first season in 2014, and that hasn’t changed. A 13-member committee, which has announced its rankings weekly since November, will set the bracket when it unveils the final 12-team rankings on Dec. 8.
This season, one of the flashpoint issues is how the committee will view teams who have produced stronger records against a weaker strength of schedule versus others with two or more losses who have played a tougher overall schedule.
Rating: 5