For college football fans, Saturdays mean waking up at 9 a.m. to watch College Gameday, preparing to watch three straight games. Every week, several marquee matchups keep fans on the couch until midnight. As winter arrives, rivalry matches set the tone for the conference championship games, where teams battle for a postseason spot. Once the playoffs start, it’s a race to the finish. Electrifying home venues host feisty teams hoping to shock the country with an upset in the first round. The quarterfinals and semi-finals are neutral-site bowl games that all lead up to the coveted Monday-night championship game.
The origin of the playoffs, and the sport in general, dates back to 1869, when Rutgers University and Princeton University competed in the first-ever college football game. While the rules in this game didn’t resemble modern-day football, it set the stage for more intercollegiate games as officials refined the rules to the American football regulations used today.
For almost the entire 20th century, a variety of national polls voted on by sportswriters and coaches decided who was the best team in college football. This format led to many “split” championships, where the polls crowned two teams as that year’s champion. The most notable “split” championship occurred in the 1997 season, when separate polls voted the University of Michigan and the University of Nebraska as the top teams. In 1998, college football implemented the Bowl Championship Series format to guarantee that there would only be one national champion at the end of each season. The BCS featured the first-ever “playoff,” where the two highest-ranked teams at the end of the season faced off in a winner-take-all game.
Despite aiming to fix the split issue, the BCS system sparked controversy. In 2003, Louisiana State University, having won the BCS championship game, and the University of Southern California, not represented in the final but still voted number one in the AP poll, were “split” winners. Additionally, fans criticized the BCS because undefeated teams often missed out on a chance to play for the national title. Some also perceived a disadvantage for non-power-five conference teams, which never had the chance to compete in a BCS championship game.
After fifteen years with this format, the four-team College Football Playoff (CFP) era was born. A 13-member committee replaced the old computer poll system, ensuring transparency with the seed selection process for the playoffs. This committee consisted of former players, coaches, athletic directors and journalists. The first year under the new format, SEC champion University of Alabama faced off against Big Ten champion Ohio State University, while Pac-12 winner University of Oregon played ACC winner Florida State University in the semifinals. OSU and Oregon won their matchups and met in the first-ever CFP championship, which stands today as the second-most-watched college football game of all time.
Although the CFP was a step towards the modern playoff system, fans raised questions about whether four teams were enough. The 2023-2024 season was the final tipping point. With star quarterback Jordan Travis, FSU dominated every team it faced during the season, beating two ranked opponents. However, Travis suffered a season-ending injury. With a backup quarterback, FSU limped through its last two games of the season. They remained undefeated and won the ACC championship, but they didn’t have their best player.
During the seed selection process, the committee questioned whether it was fair for a team that went undefeated to be excluded just because one of their players got injured. In one of the most controversial college football decisions, the committee selected Alabama to play as the fourth seed, leaving FSU out. However, Alabama proved they were worthy of the spot by nearly beating the eventual national champions, while FSU lost by 63 points in their bowl game.
At the beginning of the 2022 season, several commissioners proposed an expansion to a 12-team playoff, which the committee unanimously approved to start in 2026. In the offseason after the 2023 playoffs, college football executives agreed to expedite this new system for the 2024-2025 season. The playoff consisted of five conference champions, the top four of which would have a bye, and the seven best non-conference-winning teams. The format was a four-round tournament, with each of the top four conference champions receiving a bye through to the quarterfinal. The first round of games took place at the home stadium of the higher-ranked team, followed by quarterfinals and semi-finals staged at famous bowl venues. The championship game still alternates between venues every year.
Similar to 2014, the 2024 season was experimental. The movement of Pac-12 teams like Oregon and the University of Washington to the Big-10, as well as Big-12 teams University of Oklahoma and University of Texas to the SEC, meant that conferences needed to restructure their schedules and championship formats. Additionally, with 12 spots in the playoffs, losing a game or two was not the end of a team’s playoff hopes. For instance, the two-loss, non-conference champion OSU earned the eighth seed and ran the table, winning each game by more than one score en route to its first championship in 10 years.
This year, instead of the top four conference champions receiving byes, the top four seeds, regardless of whether they won their conference or not, will receive byes. The committee made this change because teams with a bye last year, like Oregon and the University of Georgia, had a much harder playoff schedule than other teams. For example, Penn State University didn’t have a bye but was able to advance due to its easier matchups against weaker conference championship teams, like Boise State University.
Looking towards the future, the college football playoff will likely expand once again. The committee is discussing the 16-team “5+11” format, where the top five conference champions would receive an automatic bid. The other 11 spots would be at-large, meaning they’re up for taking by any team from any conference. The ACC and Big 12 are both strong advocates for this system. The next most popular expansion is the 16-team, “4-4-2-2-1” format, where the Big 10 and SEC would be guaranteed four bids, the Big 12 and ACC would get two each, and the final automatic spot would go to the best non-power five team. The last three seeds would be at-large. The Big 10 favors this system, but smaller conferences find it unfair. In 2025, the Big 10 proposed a 28-team playoff that would give the Big 10 and SEC seven teams each in the playoffs, which is unprecedented in college football.
The latest 12-team addition has brought all-time attention to the sport, and some fans claim that college football has surpassed the NFL due to its culture and unpredictability. As the game continues to expand with new systems and rules, one thing is certain: college football is here to stay.
