12-Team College Football Playoff Format

College Football is considering a 12-team CFP, so here are my thoughts about the format.

The Format

Hopefully I won’t need to explain too much here, as the format is quite straightforward.

The first round (far left above) would be played on the higher seeded teams’ home stadium, while the rest would be played at select NY6 bowl games, with the final played in a location of the NCAA’s choice.

Selection Process

The top 6 conference champions (or the best independent) would be the top 6 seeds, with the 6 other seeds filled with at-large bids for the next top 6 teams in the CFP rankings to fill.

---

 

2020 Simulation

Top xix conference champions: Alabama (SEC), Clemson (ACC), Ohio State (Big Ten), Oklahoma (Big 12), Cincinnati (AAC), Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt)

Next six at-large bids: Notre Dame (ACC), Texas A&M (SEC), Florida (SEC), Georgia (SEC), Iowa State (Big 12), Indiana (Big Ten)

Seeding:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Cincinnati
6. Coastal Carolina
7. Notre Dame
8. Texas A&M
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. Iowa State
12. Indiana

---

Simulation:

(5) Cincinnati def. (12) Indiana, 31-20

(6) Coastal Carolina def. (11) Iowa State, 33-27

(7) Notre Dame def. (10) Georgia, 48-44

(8) Texas A&M def. (9) Florida, 45-34

---

(1) Alabama def. (8) Texas A&M, 61-24

(2) Clemson def. (7) Notre Dame, 56-21

(3) Ohio State def. (6) Coastal Carolina, 35-17

(5) Cincinnati def. (4) Oklahoma, 37-0

---

(1) Alabama def. (5) Cincinnati, 53-7

(3) Ohio State def. (2) Clemson, 45-41

---

(1) Alabama def. (3) Ohio State, 25-24

---

SIM NATIONAL CHAMPION: ALABAMA

ACTUAL NATIONAL CHAMPION: ALABAMA

---

2017 Simulation

Top six conference champions: Clemson (ACC), Oklahoma (Big 12), Georgia (SEC), Ohio State (Big Ten), USC (Pac-12), UCF (AAC)

Next six at-large bids: Alabama (SEC), Wisconsin (Big Ten), Auburn (SEC), Penn State (Big Ten), Miami (ACC), Washington (SEC)

Seeding:

1. Clemson
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. UCF
7. Alabama
8. Wisconsin
9. Auburn
10. Penn State
11. Miami
12. Washington

---

(5) USC def. (12) Washington, 34-28

(6) UCF def. (11) Miami, 41-14

(7) Alabama def. (10) Penn State, 27-10

(9) Auburn def. (8) Wisconsin, 24-10

---

(9) Auburn def. (1) Clemson, 35-31

(7) Alabama def. (2) Oklahoma, 49-13

(6) Georgia def. (3) UCF, 38-28

(4) Ohio State def. (5) USC, 54-20

---

(4) Ohio State def. (9) Auburn, 37-31

(3) UCF def. (7) Alabama, 41-36

---

(4) Ohio State def. (3) UCF, 44-21

---

SIM NATIONAL CHAMPION: OHIO STATE

ACTUAL NATIONAL CHAMPION: ALABAMA AND UCF

---

2014 Simulation

Top Six Conference Champions: Alabama (SEC), Oregon (Pac-12), TCU (Big 12), Florida State (ACC), Ohio State (Big Ten), Boise State (MWC)

Next Six at-large bids: Baylor (Big 12), Arizona (Pac-12), Michigan State (Big Ten), Kansas State (Big 12), Mississippi State (SEC), Georgia Tech (ACC)

Seeding:

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. TCU
4. Florida State
5. Ohio State
6. Boise State
7. Baylor
8. Arizona
9. Michigan State
10. Kansas State
11. Mississippi State
12. Georgia Tech

---

(5) Ohio State def. (12) Georgia Tech, 56-7

(11) Mississippi State def. (6) Boise State, 35-24

(7) Baylor def. (10) Kansas State, 21-10

(9) Michigan State def. (8) Arizona, 37-25

---

(1) Alabama def. (9) Michigan State, 42-3

(2) Oregon def. (7) Baylor, 24-17

(3) TCU def. (11) Mississippi State, 30-28

(5) Ohio State def. (4) Florida State, 34-13

---

(1) Alabama def. (5) Ohio State, 42-41

(3) TCU def. (2) Oregon, 38-31

---

(1) Alabama def. (3) TCU, 55-14

---

SIM NATIONAL CHAMPION: ALABAMA

ACTUAL NATIONAL CHAMPION: OHIO STATE

---

The simulation only includes CFP era teams, so I will just show you the seedings for the BCS era in 2004 and 2007. (I chose those years because 2007 was the year of the upset, and 2003 was random)

2007 seeding:

1. Ohio State (Big Ten)
2. LSU (SEC)
3. Virginia Tech (ACC)
4. Oklahoma (Big 12)
5. USC (Pac-10)
6. West Virginia (Big East)
7. Georgia (SEC)
8. Missouri (Big 12)
9. Kansas (Big 12)
10. Hawaii (WAC)
11. Arizona State (Pac-10)
12. Florida (SEC)

2003 seeding (this was interesting, as there were many split champions. I took the higher ranked champion out of each conference):

1. Oklahoma (Big 12)
2. USC (Pac-10)
3.  LSU (SEC)
4. Michigan (Big Ten)
5. Florida State (ACC)
6. Miami (Big East)
7. Georgia (SEC)
8. Texas (Big 12)
9. Tennessee (SEC)
10. Ohio State (Big Ten)
11. Purdue (Big Ten)
12. Iowa (Big Ten)

---

As you can see, this format would be more upset-prone and therefore possibly more exciting to watch. Would you want to see this CFP format?