One of the most anticipated sporting events this year was the new 12-team college football playoff. This is the first year it was used after the 4-team playoff, and it was fairly controversial because of the playout. Today, I am going to go over what happened and why there was a significant backlash to it.

How the 12-team playoff works

The placement of teams in the 12-team playoff is unusual. The five highest-ranked conference champions get an automatic bid, and the remaining seven spots are at-large/wildcard selections. An automatic bid guarantees a spot in the playoff for conference champions, while an at-large bid is given to the seven best teams that did not win a conference championship. In Round 1, four teams receive byes, and the remaining eight teams compete. The four byes go to the highest-ranked conference champions, meaning at-large teams are not eligible for a bye. After the first round, the playoff follows a standard bracket format.

Round 1

The first-round games took place at the home stadiums of the higher-seeded teams. Indiana Hoosiers went to South Bend to take on Notre Dame in a cross-state matchup. The final score was 27-17, with Notre Dame coming out on top. However, the final score made the game look closer than it actually was. Notre Dame had a 27-3 lead with four minutes left and took their foot off the gas. The game was highlighted by Jeramiah Love’s 98-yard touchdown run, the longest in CFP history. Penn State then had a home game against SMU, which resulted in a 38-10 blowout. SMU’s quarterback threw two pick-sixes, and the game was essentially over after that. At the 3:30 time slot, Clemson faced Texas. This was the most competitive game of the round, as Clemson had a chance to tie the game when they reached the one-yard line. However, they were stopped twice by Texas, which ended up winning 38-24. The final game of the night was the most anticipated: Tennessee traveled north to face Ohio State. However, this game did not live up to the hype. Ohio State completely blew out Tennessee, 42-17. Tennessee faced an Ohio State team seeking vengeance after losing to their rivals. Overall, no game in the first round was competitive, and people started questioning whether expanding the playoff to 12 teams had been the right decision.

Round 2

Penn St. met Boise St. in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Both teams had great history in the Fiesta Bowl, but one had to lose. Penn St. was a heavy favorite heading into this game, and it showed. They started with a 14-0 lead, and Penn St. ran all over Boise St.’s defense to win 31-14. However, Boise St. had a chance to win the game. They missed two field goals that would have given them six points combined. They also had a touchdown taken away that would have put the game within three points if the ref hadn’t made the questionable call. Overall, Penn St. won this game because they should have and because they were better than Boise St. Next, the Peach Bowl had a noon kickoff on New Year’s Day.

The Peach Bowl was between Texas and Arizona St. Texas came in as heavy favorites and had a 24-8 lead in the 4th quarter. But, Cam Skattebo and Arizona State came back, tying the game at 24-24. A questionable no-call and two missed field goals by Texas later, the game headed to overtime. Arizona St. got on the board first and had Texas at a 4th and 13. If Arizona St. had stopped Texas on this 4th and 13, they would have won. But, Arizona St. blew the coverage, and Texas scored. Then, Texas got an interception and beat Arizona St. with a final score of 39-31.

At the 3:30 slot, we had the most anticipated game of the day: a rematch between Ohio State and Oregon in the Rose Bowl. This was probably the worst game, though. Ohio State took a 34-0 lead at one point, and the undefeated one-seed Oregon came up flat. They ended up losing this game 41-21 after Ohio State pulled their starters. This was the second straight embarrassment an Ohio State opponent suffered. At this point, they were the favorite to win it all.

The final game of the second round was Notre Dame vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. This game was supposed to be played in prime time on New Year’s Day, but it was moved because of the terrorist attack that happened in New Orleans on Bourbon Street. The game was played on January 2nd, and it did not disappoint. The game looked like it was going to be a slugfest, and right before halftime, it was 6-3 Notre Dame. Kirby Smart and Georgia decided to try to go downfield, but his quarterback got strip-sacked, and Notre Dame took advantage of it to go up 13-3 before halftime. On the opening kick after halftime, Notre Dame took it to the house and scored. In 41 seconds, Notre Dame scored 14 points and basically secured the victory at that point. They ended up winning 23-10.

Round 3

The first game this round was the Orange Bowl between Notre Dame and Penn St. The game is annually played in Miami and was far for both teams. It started with Penn St. getting up 10-0. The game was slow and boring up to that point. Notre Dame was able to end the half with a field goal. Then, Notre Dame got the ball to start and marched down the field to score a touchdown. Riley Leonard had 2 interceptions in this game but also had 2 total touchdowns and was an X-factor for Notre Dame. Notre Dame got another stop and was able to score again, making it 17-10. Penn St., though, wasn’t going to bend easily, and Nick Singleton scored 2 more touchdowns to take the lead back with a score of 24-17. Riley Leonard threw a short pass to Jaden Greathouse, who was able to score a 60-yard touchdown and tie the game. Penn St. then had the ball with less than a minute left, and Drew Allar threw a costly interception, where Notre Dame went and scored the game-winning field goal, with a final score of 27-24.

The Cotton Bowl took place between Ohio State and Texas. Ohio State was the hottest team in the country and started out strong by stopping Texas and scoring. After that, nothing happened until the end of the second half, where Texas scored a touchdown to tie it 7-7. Ohio State decided to take the rest of the time to try and score a field goal. Instead, they threw a screen pass to the side where a Texas player blitzed, and TreVeyon Henderson scored a 75-yard touchdown because no one was there to tackle him. After this, both teams scored again, and Texas had a second and goal on the 1-yard line, about to score a touchdown. They ran a half-back toss and lost 6 yards. Going to 4th and goal on the 7, Texas’s quarterback got stripped by Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer, who scored a touchdown. This play cemented Ohio State’s spot in the National Championship.

National Championship

Notre Dame and Ohio State met up in Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face off in the National Championship. Notre Dame started the game with an 18-play, 10-minute drive that looked really good against the Ohio State defensive line. After that, though, everything was going Ohio State’s way. They went on to score 31 unanswered points. Then, Notre Dame scored a touchdown and a 2-point conversion. The game looked out of reach, but Notre Dame started fighting back. The score was 31-23, and Ohio State had the ball with less than 3 minutes left. It was a 3rd and 13 where all Notre Dame needed to do was not give up a first down. But instead, they gave up a 50-yard pass to star receiver Jeremiah Smith. This play cemented Ohio State’s 34-23 National Championship win.

Controversy

Even though the playoffs were great, they came with a lot of controversy. Many people complained about SMU, Indiana, Arizona St., and Boise St. getting into the playoffs. They also complained that the seeding hurt the 1st and 2nd seeds because conference champions get auto byes. It was a rough first year that could be fixed, but the College Football Playoff Committee might make it worse. There were multiple proposed ideas to expand to 14 teams and give multiple auto-bids to the Big Ten and the SEC.

Conclusion

Overall, the 12-team CFP was very successful in its first year. There was a combination of bad and good games. The harsh truth is that there will always be blowouts and competitive games. The mix will be there because so many teams are in. It is great that new teams get a chance to compete for a national championship. I think this year was a success, and I hope the playoffs are as good in the years to come.

Works Cited:

• “NCAA on ESPN – College Football Scores, Stats and Highlights.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/college-football/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
• NCAA football scores. CBSSports.com. (n.d.). https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/scoreboard/