Written By: Aubrey Packer, Staff Writer
CONTROVERSY: The controversial change in the College Football Playoffs has left many uncertain as they watch the sport they love change in front of their eyes.
For the last several seasons college football has consisted of a 4-team playoff bracket; however, this 2024 season marks a significant change. The College Football Playoff has introduced a 12-team playoff. This change in format offers a more competitive season giving a chance at the title to far more teams than ever before.
While this new format in college football playoffs does result in increased opportunities for a variety of different teams it comes with some controversy. The new system gives the best team in each conference automatic entry into the playoffs, meaning the best in the ACC, SEC, BIG 10, and BIG 12 will automatically be into the playoffs. With only a few more games left in the season, the rankings are becoming more and more important. Based on these rankings the Georgia Bulldogs could miss out on the playoff bracket as they currently sit on the bubble. Why the controversy over Georgia? The Bulldogs have played the toughest schedule this season so even though they have two losses under their belt, they have played much more competitive games, facing off against better teams than their competitors. This results in controversy as teams with better records, but easier schedules are ranked higher than Georgia. While Georgia faces a challenging lineup, including Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Alabama, another team in their league, Boise State, ranked in the top 4 with the only power four conference team they played being Oregon. This has several people questioning the new playoff system and the College Playoff Selection Committee’s discretion.
As of now Oregon, Texas, Miami, and Boise State would be the top four ranked teams with direct tickets into the second round of the playoffs. From there teams ranked 5 through 12 will play in the first round and winners will then face the top 4 ranked teams in round 2.
This new playoff system undoubtedly gives opportunity to a variety of schools throughout the season and keeps large, money-making franchises in the playoffs, but has sent ripples of controversy throughout the college football world.