Wake up, college football fans.
A new College Football Playoff expansion model just dropped — and it’s one that FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt is a fan of.
A 24-team College Football Playoff (CFP) format seems to be picking up steam ahead of the Dec. 1 deadline for the committee to either expand from the 12-team format or not. In the 24-team CFP format, the four power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC) would each get four automatic qualifiers, while there would also be two total automatic qualifiers from the non-power, Group of 6 conferences (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Pac-12).
To help round out the 24-team field, six at-large teams would make the tournament. The six at-large bids would be the only teams that the committee gets to pick for the College Football Playoff.
Reducing the number of teams the committee picks to make the CFP field while also expanding the field itself is the top reason why Klatt is a fan of this proposal.
“No. 1, any change to the playoff, in any form, I think really needs to minimize the committee and create better roads of access, rather than selection,” Klatt said on “The Joel Klatt Show.” “So, the selection being moved down to six picks and getting 18 defined paths would be a quality thing.”
In this proposal, the eight highest-ranked teams would get a first-round bye. But unlike the 12-team field, those teams would get to play a CFP game at home because games in the first two rounds would be held at the home site of the higher-ranked team.
That would be another win for playoff expansion, according to Klatt.
“You need to get more [College Football Playoff] games on campus,” Klatt said.
Finally, Klatt also likes the idea of each power conference having a defined number of automatic bids for the CFP because it can help boost the regular season.
“You need to increase the number of valuable regular-season games, both in the non-conference and in conference,” Klatt said. “So, you need to make conference games more valuable. Well, you do that by increasing the value of finishing in the top four of these Power 4 conferences. I think you need to create the desirability of big, strong mashups in the non-conference. You need to engage fanbases more.”
Joel Klatt breaks down the proposed 24-team CFP format
So, now that we know the basics of the 24-team CFP format, what would it actually look like? Well, Klatt took a chance at figuring out how the 24-team field might look by using the most recent AP Poll. While many of those teams’ seeds would be the same as their ranking in the AP Poll, this isn’t as simple as picking the top 24 teams in the poll because of the automatic qualifiers.
Here’s a look at each of the 24 teams that would make the CFP in this scenario (AQ = Automatic Qualifier, G6 = Group of 6 or non-power conference):
1. Ohio State (Big Ten AQ)
Record: 7-0
Top win: No. 22 Texas
Notable remaining opponents: vs. Penn State, at No. 25 Michigan
2. Indiana (Big Ten AQ)
Record: 7-0
Top win: No. 6 Oregon
Notable remaining opponents: vs. UCLA, at Penn State
3. Texas A&M (SEC AQ)
Record: 7-0
Top win: No. 12 Notre Dame
Notable remaining opponents: at No. 20 LSU, at No. 15 Missouri, at No. 22 Texas
4. Alabama (SEC AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: No. 5 Georgia
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 20 LSU, vs. No. 13 Oklahoma
Ohio State and Alabama in Joel Klatt’s week 8 top 10 🔥 Joel Klatt Show
5. Georgia (SEC AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: No. 8 Ole Miss
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 22 Texas, vs. No. 7 Georgia Tech (neutral site)
6. Oregon (Big Ten AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Penn State
Notable remaining opponents: vs. USC, at Washington
7. Georgia Tech (ACC AQ)
Record: 7-0
Top win: at Wake Forest
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 5 Georgia (neutral site)
8. Ole Miss (SEC AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: No. 20 LSU
Notable remaining opponents: at No. 13 Oklahoma
9. Miami (Fla.) (ACC AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: No. 12 Notre Dame
Notable remaining opponents: at SMU
10. Vanderbilt (At-Large)
Record: 6-1
Top win: No. 20 LSU
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 15 Missouri, at No. 22 Texas, at No. 17 Tennessee
11. BYU (Big 12 AQ)
Record: 7-0
Top win: Utah
Notable remaining opponents: at Iowa State, at No. 14 Texas Tech, at No. 21 Cincinnati
12. Notre Dame (At-Large)
Record: 5-2
Top win: USC
Notable remaining opponents: vs. Navy
13. Oklahoma (At-Large)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Michigan
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 8 Ole Miss, at No. 17 Tennessee, at No. 4 Alabama, at No. 15 Missouri, vs. No. 20 LSU
Can Oklahoma upset Ole Miss? 🤔😲 Joel Klatt Show
14. Texas Tech (Big 12 AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Utah
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 11 BUY
15. Missouri (At-Large)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Kansas
Notable remaining opponents: at No. 10 Vanderbilt, vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, at No. 13 Oklahoma
16. Virginia (ACC AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Louisville
Notable remaining opponents: at Cal, at Duke
17. Tennessee (At-Large)
Record: 5-2
Top win: Arkansas
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 13 Oklahoma, vs. 10 Vanderbilt
18. USF (G6 AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Florida
Notable remaining opponents: at Memphis
19. Louisville (ACC AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Miami (Fla.)
Notable remaining opponents: vs. Cal, vs. Clemson, at SMU
20. LSU (At-Large)
Record: 5-2
Top win: Clemson
Notable remaining opponents: vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, at No. 4 Alabama, vs. No. 13 Oklahoma
21. Cincinnati (Big 12 AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Iowa State
Notable remaining opponents: at Utah, vs. No. 11 Baylor
22. Illinois (Big Ten AQ)
Record: 5-2
Top win: USC
Notable remaining opponents: at Rutgers, vs. Northwestern
23. Arizona State (Big 12 AQ)
Record: 5-2
Top win: No. 14 Texas Tech
Notable remaining opponents: vs. Houston, at Iowa State, vs. Arizona
24. Tulane (G6 AQ)
Record: 6-1
Top win: Northwestern
Notable remaining opponents: at Memphis
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