The college football playoffs have had many faces throughout its history. From the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to the four-team playoff, it has evolved to the twelve team playoff. The reason that it has changed so many times is because of the flaws with the previous format. For example, the BCS format was supposed to be determined when the top two ranked teams but occasionally would have multiple undefeated teams leading to split national championships. The last time this phenomenon occurred was in 2003 when LSU and USC split for the national championship.
The BCS format lasted all the way up until the 2014-2015 season when the NCAA decided to move on to the four-team playoff. The four-team playoff consisted of the four top teams in the country. These teams were decided by a specialized committee the week after conference championships.
While many saw it as an improvement, some still pointed out the flaws of the new format, every now and then a team who may have been deserving of getting in, a team with the resume that is good enough to get in, but is simply rejected due to the small number of only four teams getting in. A prime example of this was in the 2023 playoff when Atlantic Coast Conference champion 15-0 Florida State was snubbed from the playoff for 12-2 and South East Conference winner Alabama. This caused an uproar in the college football fanbase as they believed the committee valued the wrong attributes when it came to which four teams got in, like valuing what conference a team plays in compared to their actual record and success.
The NCAA listened to the fans and made yet another change to the playoff system. They increased the number of teams who got in to twelve, a number that was thought to be adequate when it came to ensuring all deserving teams got a bid. S
senior Kelan Mikrut said that he “prefers the twelve team format because it allows more elite teams to compete for a national championship instead of just four.”
The first year of the twelve team playoff was 2024-2025. Many fans loved the new format, finding it more intriguing and more fair to those teams who may have been deserving.
The top four teams were based on conference winners as well as one more team who got an automatic bid if they won their conference. The bracket progressed throughout December and January until eventually it was Ohio State versus Notre Dame for the National Championship, a highly competitive matchup in which Ohio State came out on top in a 34-23 victory. The Ohio State Buckeyes are your first national champion of the twelve team college football playoff.
Overall, the twelve team playoff has been a much needed improvement to the college football playoff and will be an exciting event to watch for many years to come.
