For the first time, the College Football Playoff moved from four teams to 12 beginning in the 2024 season.
The five highest-ranked conference champions received an automatic bid. The four highest-ranked conference champions are seeded 1-4, with teams five through 12 facing each other in the first round.
However, a 14-team playoff is being considered, with the 12-team format’s contract set to expire in 2026. On a recent edition of “The Triple Option,” Urban Meyerstated that he was for the 14-team version.
The proposed “4-4-2-2-2” model would give the SEC and Big Ten four automatic bids, two to the ACC and Big 12 and one to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion, with an at-large bid also given.
Meyer believes this would ultimately end the need for a selection committee.
This now eliminates the selection committee,” Meyer said. “It’s not selection, it’s access. …It’s no longer a selection committee. It’s an access-oriented system, which I’m in favor of.”
The playoff was first introduced to college football in the 2014 season. Before then, the national champion was determined by a game between the top two ranked teams at the end of bowl season.
Last season, the top four playoff teams were the Oregon Ducks, Georgia Bulldogs, Boise State Broncos and Arizona State Sun Devils.
The remaining playoff teams were the Texas Longhorns, Penn State Nittany Lions, Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Tennessee Volunteers, Indiana Hoosiers, SMU Mustangs and Clemson Tigers.
Ohio State won the national title after beating Notre Dame 34-23 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the Buckeyes’ first national title since 2014 when Meyer was their head coach.
Meyer has experience in winning national championships. At Florida, he won one in 2006 and 2008.
