College Football Playoffs: 12-team fields from 2014-present

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.

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.