What is the College Football Playoff (CFP)?
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason tournament that determines a national champion for NCAA Division I FBS football. Since its inception in 2014, it has evolved from a four-team format to a twelve-team structure starting in the 2024 season.
The Evolution of the CFP
From its humble beginnings as a four-team tournament, the CFP has grown into a more complex and expansive system. The 13-member committee selects and seeds teams based on factors like strength of schedule, conference championships, team records, head-to-head results, injuries, and weather. This process aims to replace simplistic polls with a more deliberative evaluation method.
The 2024-25 CFP Expansion
Starting in the 2024 season, the CFP will expand from four teams to twelve, featuring five conference champions and seven at-large bids. This expansion was driven by several conferences, including USC and UCLA’s Pac-12 departure to the Big Ten, which united behind a larger playoff format.
Selection Committee Dynamics
The selection committee consists of 13 members serving three-year terms. Notable individuals such as retired coaches, current athletic directors, former NFL players, and media professionals ensure a diverse range of expertise. The committee releases top 25 rankings weekly during the regular season, with meetings taking place up to 10 times a year at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine, Texas.
Selection Process
The selection process involves numerous votes on successive tiers of teams, considering six at a time and coming to a consensus. Discussion and debate happen at each voting step, with all votes being by secret ballot. Committee members who are currently employed or financially compensated by a school, or have family members with a current financial relationship, are not allowed to vote for that school.
CFP Format and Games
The 12-team playoff features a first round of playoffs at home stadiums of better-seeded teams, followed by New Year’s Six bowl games and a national championship game. The top-ranked team plays the No. 4 seed, while the No. 2 seed faces the No. 3 seed in semifinal matchups.
On-Campus Games
Teams seeded 5-12 play better seed’s home stadium or chosen venue. Venues for on-campus games, New Year’s Six bowls, and championship game cities bid to host. In practice, every title game up to and including 2025 has been played or scheduled in a stadium hosting at least one NFL team and in either an indoor or warm-weather city.
CFP Broadcasting
In 2013, ESPN acquired television broadcast rights to all six CFP bowls and the National Championship through the 2025–26 season. In March 2024, ESPN reached a six-year extension valued at $1.3 billion per year, adding four new first-round playoff games.
Ratings and Revenue
The inaugural CFP games in January 2015 generated larger ratings than previous BCS games. The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship had an 18.9 Nielsen rating, watched by approximately 33.4 million people, the largest broadcast audience of all time on American cable television (non-broadcast).
Criticism and Controversies
Despite its success, the CFP has faced criticism over team selection. Some examples include Ohio State being selected over Alabama and USC in 2017, and Georgia being selected over three Power Five conference champions with multiple losses in 2021. Critics argue that conference champions should be the primary focus of selection or that the committee’s subjective process is unfair to smaller conferences.
Future Outlook
The CFP continues to evolve, with potential expansion to a fourteen-team format after 2025. The system aims to balance fairness and excitement while maintaining its integrity as one of college football’s most prestigious tournaments.
The College Football Playoff has become a cornerstone of college football, bringing together the best teams in a thrilling postseason tournament. As it continues to grow and adapt, one thing is certain: the CFP will remain at the heart of college football’s excitement and drama.
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This page is based on the article College Football Playoff published in Wikipedia (retrieved on December 19, 2024) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
