The College Football Playoff is set. Top ranked Georgia will play Ohio State in the Peach Bowl while TCU and Michigan will face off in the Fiesta Bowl. The matchups are solid, and most people thing the Selection Committee got it right. But this will be the penultimate version of the 4-team playoff. It was announced last week that the playoff will expand to 12 teams for the 2024 season. It has been the Rose Bowl as the only obstacle in the way of expansion. But last week they put their ego aside for the betterment of the sport. Thank you, Rose Bowl. What a 12 team playoff would look like for the 2022 season.
The 12 team playoff will consist of the 6 highest ranked conference champs, with the next 6 highest ranked teams. The four highest seeded conference champions will get the 1st round bye. So because TCU and Ohio State are not conference champs, they would have to play in the opening round. Clemson and Utah would join Georgia and Michigan as teams getting the bye. The six conference champions in a 12 team playoff would be the four previously mentioned along with Kansas State and Tulane out of the AAC. The at-large teams would be TCU, Ohio State, Alabama, Tennessee, USC, and Penn State.
For the opening round matchups, the higher seeded team would host the lower seeded team. Or they could play it at the venue of the home teams choosing. I can’t think of many instances where this would happen. Maybe LSU moving a game to the Superdome, or a Texas school going to Jerry’s World. So let’s take a look at what a 12 team playoff would look like.
(9) Tennessee @ (8) Kansas State
(Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Your Big 12 Champs would host a Tennessee side without Hendon Hooker. Winner would get the Georgia Bulldogs.
(12) Tulane @ (5) TCU
(Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
TCU is not a conference champ, so they would not get the first round bye. Tulane gets in as the 6th highest ranked conference champion. Winner here would get Utah, who is the 4th highest ranked conference champ.
(11) Penn St. @ (6) Ohio State
(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Can you say rematch. Ohio State beat Penn State 44-31 back in October. That game was in Happy Valley. This would be in Columbus. Winner here gets Clemson- who is the 3 seed.
(10) USC @ (7) Alabama
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
This would be the biggest matchup in the 1st round of the CFP. Alabama beat up on bad teams, but had a tough time against the upper echelon of college football. USC had a tough loss against Utah for the 2nd time this season. Winner here would get Michigan.
