The new twelve-team college football playoff model has raised lots of controversy in the world of sports. Many people are upset with the seed that their team ended up in, which has led them to doubt the legitimacy of the committees’ reasoning behind their choices. Not only are the fans suggesting changes, but the results are, too. 

The Basics

This new playoff model features twelve seeds compared to the four seeds used since 2014. With eight more spots, how are they figuring out the rankings? The winners of the top five conferences get an automatic bid. Out of those, the top four get a bye week in the first week of playoffs and the other conference winner gets a seed depending on their regular season ranking compared to the at-large bids. That leaves seven spots left to fill. From there, the seven-highest-ranked teams remaining will make up the remainder of the bracket. 

The higher-ranked team will host the first round. For example, the five seed will host the twelve, the six will host the eleven, and so on. The winners continued to play in bowl games for the quarterfinals, which were hosted in their usual neutral locations. Those winners then advance to the semi-final bowl games, and eventually to the National Championship.

2025 College Football Playoffs Rankings

The seeding was announced on December 8th. Because Oregon(BIG10), Georgia(SEC), Boise State(Mountain West), Arizona State(BIG12), and Clemson (ACC) won their conference, they received automatic bids for the playoffs. With that being said, Clemson was not ranked within the regular season top twelve, therefore they automatically received the twelve seed.

The remaining decisions by the committee come down to the strength of their schedule and their record. This is where the upset fans come in. Although Clemson beat SMU in the conference championship, they got a lower seed in the playoffs because they were not ranked at the end of the season. On the other side, The Crimson Tide fans saw an issue with SMU getting a bid and Alabama not. With three losses, they were left off the bracket even though it is believed they played a harder schedule than SMU. 

Many of the automatic bids were ultimately ranked lower than some at-large bid teams, which left Penn State, Ohio State, and Notre Dame fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. 

Results to Date

Winner*

First round:

• Clemson(12) v Texas(5)*: 24-38
• Tennessee(9) v Ohio State(8)*:17-42
• SMU (11) v Penn State(6)*: 10-38
• Indiana(10) v Notre Dame(7)*: 17-27

Quarterfinals:

• Texas(5) v. Arizona State(4)*: 39-31
• Ohio State(8) v Oregon(1)*: 42-21
• Penn State(6) v Boise State(3)*: 31-14
• Notre Dame(7) v Georgia(2)*: 23-10

Semifinals: 

• Texas(5) v Ohio State(8)*: 14-28
• Penn State(6) v Notre Dame(7)*: 24-27

Opinion

Overall, I think the idea behind the twelve-team college football playoff is good because it allows for more opportunities for more teams to win the National Championship. With that being said, I think there are some major changes to be made, specifically with the seeding. Looking at the results, all of the teams that earned an automatic bid lost their first game, even though all but one of them were the higher-ranked team. This brings up the issue that teams were given a bye for winning their conference, even if they were not ranked highly after the regular season. 

Instead of this method, the rule should be, that any of the four highest conference champions that rank within the top seven teams in the end-of-season rankings should get an automatic bid and a bye, and the remaining teams within the top twelve will be seeded according to end-of-year rankings. This way conference winners will still have a leg up, but they must be within the top 60% of the top 12, therefore proving they deserve a spot.