College Football Playoff

College Football Playoff
College Football Playoff logo
In operation2014–present
Preceded by
Number of teams12
Championship trophyCollege Football Playoff National Championship Trophy
Television partner(s)ESPN (2014–present)
ABC (2024–present)
TNT Sports (2024–present; sublicensing agreement with ESPN)
Most playoff appearancesAlabama (8)
Most playoff winsAlabama (9)
Most playoff championshipsAlabama (3)
Conference with most appearancesSEC (10)
Conference with most game winsSEC (14)
Conference with most championshipsSEC (6)
Last championship game2024 College Football Playoff National Championship
Current championMichigan
Executive directorRichard M. Clark
Websitecollegefootballplayoff.com

The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of college football competition in the United States. It culminates in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.[1][2] The inaugural tournament was held at the end of the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season under a four-team format.[3] The CFP Board of Managers voted in 2023 to expand the playoff to twelve teams beginning in 2024, an arrangement that will last at least through the end of the 2025 season. After 2025, the current contract between all major players expires and a new contract will be drawn up, with indications that additional expansion may take place as soon as 2026.[4][5]

As the NCAA does not organize or award an official national championship for FBS football (instead merely recognizing the decisions made by any of a number of independent major championship selectors), the CFP's inception in 2014 marked the first time a major national championship selector in college football was able to determine their champion by using a bracket competition.[6][7] A 13-member committee has selected and seeded the teams to take part in the CFP.[8] This system differs from the use of polls or computer rankings that had previously been used to select the participants for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the title system used in FBS from 1998 to 2013. The CFP format used from 2014 to 2023 was a four-team single-elimination tournament, with participants determined and seeded by the selection committee.

The current 12-team CFP format will feature, for the first time, a first round of playoffs separated from bowl games. The first round will consist of seeds 5 through 12 playing one another at the home stadium of the better seeded teams, or another venue of their choice. Then, the quarter-final and semi-final games will consist of the New Year's Six bowl games, with a national championship game after that.[9][10]

From 2014 through 2023, the two semifinal games rotated among the six New Year's Day bowl games: the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl.[11] In addition to the teams selected for the playoff, from 2014 to 2023 the final CFP rankings were used in determining the participants for the four New Year's Six bowls that were not hosting the semifinals that year. Under the original four-team format, the two semifinal games were played on the same day; with the expansion of the CFP in 2024, they will be played on back-to-back days. The College Football Playoff National Championship game is then played on the first Monday that is six or more days after the Semifinals.[12] The venue of the championship game is then selected based on bids submitted by cities, similar to the NCAA Final Four.

The winner of the Championship Game is awarded the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy. Playoff officials commissioned a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous championship systems, such as the AFCA "crystal football" trophy which had been regularly presented after the championship game since the 1990s (as the AFCA was contractually obligated to name the BCS champion as the Coaches Poll champion).[13] However, BCS Properties, LLC is the legal entity which owns all CFP trademarks.[14] CFP Administration, LLC is the legal entity that administers the College Football Playoff.[15]

  1. ^ "Overview". CollegeFootballPlayoff.com. September 30, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Wolken, Dan (April 25, 2013). "Questions and answers for the College Football Playoff". USA Today. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  3. ^ McMurphy, Brett (April 24, 2013). "Football playoff has name and site". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  4. ^ "Here's What The 12-team College Football Playoff Will Look Like". NBCSportschicago.com. May 2, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  5. ^ "With 12 Team Playoff Set, CFP Already Discussing Probably Adding More Teams for 2026 and Beyond". apnews.com. February 21, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  6. ^ C.N. (January 14, 2015). "The business of college football: Undisputed champs in a disputed sport". The Economist. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
  7. ^ Dodd, Dennis (June 24, 2014). "Fringe benefit of College Football Playoff? No more mythical titles". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
  8. ^ Whitley, David (February 8, 2013). "College football playoff selection committee members will need witness protection". AOL.SportingNews.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  9. ^ Tim Layden (November 29, 2004). "The BCS Mess". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 14, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  10. ^ Pete Thamel (December 31, 2006). "After Much Debate, College Football's Postseason Future Is Still Cloudy". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  11. ^ Cooper, Ryan (December 4, 2016). "College football bowls: New Year's Six matchups announced". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  12. ^ Heather Dinch (June 27, 2012). "Playoff plan to run through 2025". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  13. ^ Dennis Dodd (July 23, 2013). "New College Football Playoff will reportedly feature a new trophy". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  14. ^ "Internet of Trademarks owned by BCS Properties, LLC - Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  15. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about the CFP". Retrieved October 27, 2024. The College Football Playoff is administered by the FBS conferences and the University of Notre Dame which are members of CFP Administration, LLC.