The College Football Playoff Rankings were released for a second time on November 12. It covers games played through Nov 9. The rankings were formulated around the country and were announced on ESPN from its headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. A mixed group of 13 individuals with experience as coaches, student-athletes, college administrators, journalists, and sitting athletics directors comprise the selection committee. Members of the committee are Chris Ault, Chet Gladchuk, Jim Grobe, Warde Manuel (chair), Randall McDaniel, Gary Pinkel, Mack Rhoades, Mike Riley, David Sayler, Will Shields, Kelly Whiteside, Carla Williams, and Hunter Yurachek.
In this article, we will give some fundamentals of the committee and its deliberations, some of the peculiarities of this second ranking, and the fact that there are many big games to come with many of the top teams playing each other. One team in those matchups will win, and one team will lose, so many teams still control their destiny, and fans want to know what the committee will do with the teams who lose those games. This article wraps up with a discussion of what makes the world go around and also drives the College Football Playoff. Already, with the Nov 9 ranking, there was considerable interest.
College Football Playoff Structure
This is the first year of a twelve-team college football playoff. The powers that be in college football have been trying to get the process for selecting a football national champion right for more than one hundred years. Maybe this way will do it. One thing is for certain there are many more lucrative college football playoff games now than there have been.
In terms of structure, the four top seeds will receive first-round byes, so those are coveted spots, and there was considerable interest in them in the Nov 9 ranking and the team ranked fifth will host a game against a team that is ranked twelfth. There will be three other games. The four teams that had a first-round bye will play the winners of those first-round games in bowl games, which will rotate every year. The winners of those quarterfinal bowl games will play each other in the semi-finals, and the winners of those semi-final games will play each other in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.
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Nov 9th Ranking
The second ranking of the College Football Playoff selection committee was released on Nov 12 to fanfare. The Nov 9 rakings were discussed and debated on television. There were some odd things about this ranking. First, four of the top five teams in the ranking were from the Big Ten Conference. This is unusual because the College Football Playoff selection committee has undervalued the Big Ten Conference in the past.
Second, the Southeastern Conference, or SEC, had teams ranked at number seven and numbers ten through twelve. The SEC has been historically overvalued by the College Football Playoff committee. Finally, the number thirteen ranked team will always generate consternation as the last team left out of this playoff. In this case, the College Football Playoff selection committee took somewhat of a pass by raking Boise State, a team from mid-major conference, there.
What to do if a Team Loses
With the season only being complete through Nov 9, it is fair to wonder what will happen if a highly-ranked team loses. Nobody knows. But many of the top-ranked teams will play each other. Ohio State hosts Indiana. The winner of that game will likely play Oregon in the Big Ten Conference Championship. Many of the top-ranked teams will face off in Conference Championship games. Also, with us just being on Nov 9, it is the case that several top-ranked teams will get upset. What does the committee do with ranked teams that lose games? Is there a ranking over which a team that loses will not drop out of the top twelve?
Money Drives the Entire Thing
This twelve-team playoff may be a better way of determining a college football champion. Time will tell. One thing is for certain: at this point, there will be many more games. Each game generates advertisement revenue for the commercials that run during it, so more games mean more money for the television networks. More money for the television networks means more money in the contract they have with the NCAA, which means more money for the conferences and schools. More money for the schools means, in the era of Name, Image, and Likeness dollars, more money for the players as well. Everyone makes money.
Conclusion
College Football Playoff committee rankings will be released every Tuesday until the final rankings are released, to some fanfare, on December 8, 2024. There will be a twelve-team playoff format for the first time. Initial games will take place at the higher seeded school, on campus, at their football stadiums. The top four teams will have byes in this first round. The first-round games will take place on December 20 and December 21. The second-round games will take place on December 31 and will pit the four highest seeds against the winners of the four first-round games. These games will take place in the Fiesta, Peach, Rose, and Sugar Bowls.
The College Football Playoff semifinal will take place on January 9 and 10 and the winners of the second-round games will face each other in bowl games. The bowls for the semifinals this year are the Orange and Cotton Bowl. The winners of these games face off in the College Football Playoff National Championship, which will take place on January 20, 2025 in Atlanta, GA.
