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Patrick Conn

What would a 12-team playoff have looked like since 2014

The landscape of college football is ever-changing. With NIL and the transfer portal, there is constant movement among the players. Starting in the 2024 college football season, we will see more change with the introduction of the 12-team playoff field.

For years many wanted to move away from the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and in 2014 came the College Football Playoffs. The top four teams would play for the CFP trophy. Since that date, we have heard countless arguments to expand to eight, 12, or even a 16-team field.

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In 2017 the argument centered around Alabama vs Central Florida, which is the national champion. Under the new guidelines for the playoff, it would have been settled on the field. In an opening-round matchup, we would have No. 5 Alabama vs No. 12 Central Florida. Who wouldn’t love to see that game? At least in hindsight.

The new format will have the top four conference champions earning a bye week. Teams who win their conference will be rewarded. The remaining Power Five champion will earn a guaranteed spot as well as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The remaining six spots will be at large selections.

With all of that said, Buckeyes Wire went back to 2014 to see what those 12-team fields would look like. Ohio State was the only football team that would have qualified every single year. Alabama missed out in 2019 to give them the second-most appearances.

2014 Field

Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch

First Round Byes

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Oregon Ducks
  3. Florida State Seminoles
  4. Ohio State Buckeyes

First Round Matchups

  • No. 5 Baylor Bears vs No. 12 Boise State Broncos
  • No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs vs No. 11 Kansas State Wildcats
  • No. 7 Mississippi State Bulldogs vs No. 10 Arizona Wildcats
  • No. 8 Michigan State Spartans vs No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels

Second Round Matchups

Alabama vs Michigan State-Ole Miss winner

Oregon vs Mississippi State-Arizona winner

Florida State vs TCU-Kansas State winner

Ohio State vs Baylor-Boise State winner

2015 Field

Mickey Welsh/USA TODAY Network

First Round Byes

  1. Clemson Tigers
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. Michigan State Spartans
  4. Oklahoma Sooners

First Round Matchups

Second Round Matchups

Clemson vs Notre Dame-Florida State winner

Alabama vs Ohio State-North Carolina winner

Michigan State vs Stanford-TCU winner

Oklahoma vs Iowa-Houston winner

2016 Field

Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

First Round Byes

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Clemson Tigers
  3. Washington Huskies
  4. Penn State Nittany Lions

First Round Matchups

Second Round Matchups

Alabama vs Wisconsin-USC winner

Clemson vs Oklahoma-Colorado winner

Washington vs Michigan-Florida State winner

Penn State vs Ohio State-Western Michigan winner

2017 Field

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

First Round Byes

  1. Clemson Tigers
  2. Oklahoma Sooners
  3. Georgia Bulldogs
  4. Ohio State Buckeyes

First Round Matchups

No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide vs No. 12 Central Florida Knights

No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers vs No. 11 Washington Huskies

No. 7 Auburn Tigers vs No. 10 Miami Hurricanes

No. 8 USC Trojans vs No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions

Second Round Matchups

Clemson vs USC-Penn State winner

Oklahoma vs Auburn-Miami winner

Georgia vs Wisconsin-Washington winner

Ohio State vs Alabama-Central Florida winner

2018 Field

Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

First Round Byes

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Clemson Tigers
  3. Oklahoma Sooners
  4. Ohio State Buckeyes

First Round Matchups

No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions

No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs vs No. 11 LSU Tigers

No. 7 Michigan Wolverines vs No. 10 Florida Gators

No. 8 Central Florida Knights vs No. 9 Washington Huskies

Second Round Matchups

Alabama vs Central Florida-Washington winner

Clemson vs Michigan-Florida winner

Oklahoma vs Georgia-LSU winner

Ohio State vs Notre Dame-Penn State winner

2019 Field

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

First Round Byes

  1. LSU Tigers
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes
  3. Clemson Tigers
  4. Oklahoma Sooners

First Round Matchups

No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs vs No. 12 Memphis Tigers

No. 6 Oregon Ducks vs No. 11 Utah Utes

No. 7 Baylor Bears vs No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions

No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers vs No. 9 Florida Gators

Second Round Matchups

LSU vs Wisconsin-Florida winner

Ohio State vs Baylor-Penn State winner

Clemson vs Oregon-Utah winner

Oklahoma vs Georgia-Memphis winner

2020 Field

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

First Round Byes

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Clemson Tigers
  3. Ohio State Buckeyes
  4. Oklahoma Sooners

First Round Matchups

No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs No. 12 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies vs No. 11 Indiana Hoosiers

No. 7 Florida Gators vs No. 10 Iowa State Cyclones

No. 8 Cincinnati Bearcats vs No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs

Second Round Matchups

Alabama vs Cincinnati-Georgia winner

Clemson vs Florida-Iowa State winner

Ohio State vs Texas A&M-Indiana winner

Oklahoma vs Notre Dame-Coastal Carolina winner

2021 Field

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

First Round Byes

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Michigan Wolverines
  3. Cincinnati Bearcats
  4. Baylor Bears

First Round Matchups

No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs vs No. 12 Pittsburgh Panthers

No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs No. 11 Utah Utes

No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes vs No. 10 Michigan State Spartans

No. 8 Ole Miss Rebels vs No. 9 Oklahoma State Cowboys

Second Round Matchups

Alabama vs Ole Miss-Oklahoma State winner

Michigan vs Ohio State-Michigan State winner

Cincinnati vs Notre Dame-Utah Winner

Baylor vs Georgia-Pittsburgh winner

2022 Field

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

First Round Byes

  1. Georgia Bulldogs
  2. Michigan Wolverines
  3. Clemson Tigers
  4. Utah Utes

First Round Matchups

No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs vs No. 12 Tulane Green Wave

No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes vs No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions

No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide vs No. 10 USC Trojans

No. 8 Tennessee Vols vs No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats

Second Round Matchups

Georgia vs Tennessee-Kansas State winner

Michigan vs Alabama-USC winner

Clemson vs Ohio State-Penn State winner

Utah vs TCU-Tulane winner

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