The college football season is officially upon us with Week 0 starting this week.
That is right college football fans, teams will be on the field fighting for their chance at a National Championship yet again very soon. Unfortunately for Iowa fans, you have to wait another week before you get to see the Hawkeyes on the field, but it is so close.
With a new season comes a new playoff, and not just new teams, but a whole new format. The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams this year consisting of all the Power Four conference champions, a Group of Five champion, and the next seven best teams.
The AP preseason poll is officially out and Georgia and Ohio State seem to be dominating the top, but some teams are sniffing the top like Texas and Oregon. However, the CFP isn't the AP, so their rankings may not always make sense.
Even though the playoff won't make its grand entrance till the end of the season, people are already trying to predict who will be in come the end of the season. I am also trying to predict and this is my first prediction of the season on who I think will get the CFP berth.
2024 Preseason 12-team CFP prediction
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC champion | N/A |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten champion | N/A |
3 | Oregon | At-large | N/A |
4 | Florida State | ACC champion | N/A |
5 | Texas | At-large | N/A |
6 | Kansas State | Big 12 champion | N/A |
7 | Alabama | At-large | N/A |
8 | Michigan | At-large | N/A |
9 | Missouri | At-large | N/A |
10 | Notre Dame | At-large | N/A |
11 | Utah | At-large | N/A |
12 | Boise State | MW champion | N/A |
Georgia and Ohio State can still be conference champions with even one loss, but they are most likely going to have to win out in order to be conference champions. Oregon and Texas are just waiting on the sidelines however to take what they want if Georgia and Ohio State slip up.
The SEC might have the most teams in the playoff with Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Missouri in the mix. Others could easily make their move into those spots, but those seem like some of the top dogs in the conference.
The Big 12 has the possibility to have two teams in if both can go with only one or two losses on the season. Kansas State and Utah don't face each other in the regular season and each could come out of their conference undefeated and meet in the conference championship.
Florida State seems like the lone ACC team and the Group of Five programs seem to only get one bid.