A historic College Football Playoff season is upon us.
This is the first season of the 12-team playoff after 10 years of the four-team playoff, marking a significant expansion that will see first round games played on college campuses — a first in the CFP era.
The selection committee’s first top 25 ranking is a baseline indicator of where things stand now while keeping in mind that there are five more re-rankings, concluding with Selection Day on Sunday, December 8.
Without further ado, here’s the committee’s initial top 25 rankings.
Listen to our experts’ instant reactions to the rankings here.
2024 College Football Playoff Top 25 (Nov. 5)
1. Oregon (9-0)
2. Ohio State (7-1)
3. Georgia (7-1)
4. Miami (9-0)
5. Texas (7-1)
6. Penn State (7-1)
7. Tennessee (7-1)
8. Indiana (9-0)
9. BYU (8-0)
10. Notre Dame (7-1)
11. Alabama (6-2)
12. Boise State (7-1)
13. SMU (8-1)
14. Texas A&M (7-2)
15. LSU (6-2)
16. Ole Miss (7-2)
17. Iowa State (7-1)
18. Pittsburgh (7-1)
19. Kansas State (7-2)
20. Colorado (6-2)
21. Washington St. (7-1)
22. Louisville (6-3)
23. Clemson (6-2)
24. Missouri (6-2)
25. Army (8-0)
Initial takeaways and expert reaction
One of the early debates was Ohio State at No. 2 and Georgia at No. 3. The chair of the selection committee, Warde Manuel, said that decision came down to the teams’ losses. While the Buckeyes lost by 1 point to current No. 1 Oregon on the road, Georgia lost by a touchdown on the road at current No. 11 Alabama. It’s “splitting hairs” a bit, but that was the differentiator for the committee this week.
Probably the biggest question mark of this initial ranking was whether the committee would reward a 9-0 Indiana team that’s looked strong all season (including putting up a whopping 77 points on Western Illinois — a program record for the most points scored in a game). Indeed, the committee seems to have taken notice, ranking the Hoosiers at No. 8 and ahead of No. 9 BYU. This despite the Cougars having two wins over ranked teams (vs. no ranked wins for the Hoosiers).
“To me, that is the absolute biggest surprise and [a] huge slap in their face coming out of the first ranking,” NBC Sports College Football insider Nicole Auerbach said on the Rushing the Field podcast.
So how do the CFP rankings compare to the AP poll (which has been used for perspective up until this point in the season)? First, Georgia and Ohio State are flip-flopped, with the Bulldogs No. 2 and Buckeyes No. 3 in the AP. The rankings are identical until No. 14 and No. 15, where Texas A&M and LSU are also flip-flopped. Further down the rankings, the committee isn’t valuing Army’s 8-0 start as much as the AP. The Black Knights are No. 25 in the CFP rankings vs. No. 18 in the AP.
The bottom part of the top 25 is mostly the same in both polls except for one glaring difference: Missouri is in and Vanderbilt is out. The committee ranked the 6-2 Tigers at No. 24 compared to the Tigers being unranked in the AP. Missouri’s two losses were 30+ point losses to No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 11 Alabama. Meanwhile, the 6-3 Commodores lost to Missouri by a field goal in overtime, but they beat the Crimson Tide and nearly upset No. 5 Texas, losing 27-24.
How the 12-team playoff will work
The 12-team playoff is a bit more involved than its four-team predecessor, so let’s take a look at how it will work.
Previously, the four-team playoff, which decided the national champion from 2014-2023, simply pitted the top four teams in the country against one another in two semifinal games that rotated between the New Year’s Six bowls. No. 1 faced No. 4 and No. 2 faced No. 3. The winner of each semifinal advanced to the national championship game.
With the expansion to 12 teams, which is guaranteed for at least the 2024 and 2025 seasons (additional expansion can happen as early as 2026), there’s more to making the playoff, and a team’s positioning in the playoff, than just being ranked in the top four.
Here’s how the 12 teams will be selected:
1. Guaranteed bids. The top five conference champions in the CFP rankings are guaranteed bids. Note: No conference is guaranteed an automatic bid, and a conference must have at least eight members for its champion to be eligible for a guaranteed bid.
2. At-large bids. After the top five conference champions, the seven highest-ranked remaining teams will be selected. Note: This could include additional conference champions.
Also new for the 12-team playoff? First-round byes and games on college campuses.
Yep, you read that right. The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive first-round byes. The remaining teams will play each other in the first round at the home field of the better seeds or an alternate venue if the higher-ranked team chooses.
First round matchups will see:
- No. 5 vs. No. 12
- No. 6 vs. No. 11
- No. 7 vs. No. 10
- No. 8 vs. No. 9.
The teams that had first round byes will then face the first-round winners as follows:
- No. 1 conf. champion vs. winner of No. 8/9
- No. 2 conf. champion vs. winner of No. 7/10
- No. 3 conf. champion vs. winner of No. 6/11
- No. 4 conf. champion vs. winner of No. 5/12
The New Year’s Six bowls will continue to host the semifinals and, now, the quarterfinals. The championship game will continue to be held at a separately determined neutral site, with the 2024 season champion to be decided in Atlanta, Georgia, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 20, 2025.
If the 12-team playoff was decided by Tuesday’s rankings, Oregon, Georgia, Miami, and BYU would get first round byes. The first round games would see Boise State vs. Ohio State (winner would play BYU), Alabama vs. Texas (winner would play Miami), Notre Dame vs. Penn State (winner would play Georgia), and Indiana vs. Tennessee (winner would play Oregon).
