How college football's new playoff will work in 2024
A decade after the College Football Playoff forever changed the sport by creating a semifinal on the field to determine a national champion, the format is undergoing another major change, as the field is set to expand from four teams to 12 starting this postseason.
In that format, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will formulate its rankings and pick the five highest-ranked conference champions, followed by seven at-large teams to appear in the postseason event.
How the College Football Playoff will work
First Round: Fri., Dec. 20 (1 game), Sat., Dec. 21 (3 games)
Quarterfinal: Tues., Dec. 31 (Fiesta Bowl), Wed., Jan. 1 (Peach, Rose, Sugar)
Semifinal: Thurs., Jan. 9 (Orange), Fri., Jan. 10 (Cotton)
National Championship: Mon., Jan. 20
Who creates the rankings?
That job falls to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, a body of 13 members with experience in the field, including coaches, former players, athletic directors, and others.
How are the rankings created?
Related: How the College Football Playoff creates the rankings
What is the rankings schedule?
The selection committee releases the official Top 25 College Football Playoff rankings every Tuesday starting in the second half of the season.
Committee members meet and release the Top 25 rankings either six or seven times, depending on how long the season is.
What is used to create the rankings?
College Football Playoff selectors create Top 25 rankings based on their evaluation of teams’ performance on the field. The committee employs several metrics to select the best teams.
- Strength of schedule
- Head-to-head game results
- Results vs. teams in Top 25 rankings
- Results vs. common opponents
- Conference championships
Selectors are allowed to use a variety of advanced analytics to gauge teams' performance, but those numbers don't play a formal role in determining Top 25 rankings, which is a decision made by selectors' own judgement.
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams