Beginning this year, the College Football Playoff will feature a 12-team format with Georgia as the favorite to win the title, followed by Ohio State.
The college football season opens Saturday, Aug. 24 and teams have more incentive than ever to stack win and earn conference titles.
The University of Georgia, which has won two of the last three national championships, is
favored to win another title this season.
Beginning this year, the College Football Playoff will feature a 12-team format as opposed to just four teams that qualified in previous years.
The playoff games will begin on Dec. 20 and run through Jan. 20, 2025. The first round is set for Dec. 20–21 at either the home field of the higher-seeded team or another site designated by the higher-seeded program.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, with the semifinals kick-off the following week on Jan. 9–10.
The New Year’s Six bowl games—the Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, and Peach—are still part of the playoffs. The semifinals will be played in bowls on a rotating basis while the national championship host site is determined through bids by prospective host sites. The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will host a semifinal this season.
The CFP National Championship is on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta.
The new format will take some of the controversy away from the previous years when just four teams made the playoffs.
The new 12-team College Football Playoff field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, which will receive automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will be part of the 12-team schedule.
The top four teams will receive a first-round bye to the quarterfinals.
Georgia, coached by Kirby Smart, is loaded with talent and led by quarterback Carson Beck, who has plenty of weapons at his disposal. Last season, Smart was a finalist for the Manning Award, presented to the nation’s top college quarterback as judged by the Sugar Bowl Committee. Beck
started in all 14 games for the Bulldogs in 2023, ranking third nationally and first in the SEC in passing yards (3,941). He also threw 24 touchdowns with six interceptions.
Defensively, the Bulldogs are led by defensive end Mykel Williams, an All-SEC Second Team selection who played in 13 games and finished 18 tackles and a team-leading 4.5 sacks.
Ohio State, which has not won a national title since 2014, is the
second favorite behind Georgia. Coach Ryan Days’ Buckeyes should be stellar defensively with safety Caleb Downs, an Alabama transfer named the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year. Last season, Downs became the first Alabama freshman to lead the team in
tackles (107) in program history. He also had two interceptions, four passes defended, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
Another transfer, running back Quinshon Judkins, could be the focal point of Ohio State’s offense. Over the last two seasons at Ole Miss, Judkins played in all
26 games and tied Deuce McAllister’s record with 14 career 100-yard rushing games. He also set school single-season records in 2022 with 1,567 yards rushing and 16 rushing touchdowns. Judkins and senior running back
TreVeyon Henderson give Ohio State the most formidable running attack in the nation.
Oregon is ranked third in the preseason AP Coaches Poll behind Georgia and Ohio State and is in the hunt for the program’s first national championship in football. The Ducks have an explosive offense led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, a UCF and Oklahoma transfer who enters the season tied for fourth in NCAA history in career total
touchdowns (152), seventh in total yards (15,925), eighth in passing yards (14,865) and eighth in passing touchdowns (125). The Ducks will play their first season in the Big Ten.
Gabriel’s favorite target will be wide receiver Tez Johnson, who set Oregon’s single-season record for
receptions in 2023 with 86. His 1,182 receiving yards in 2023 were the third-most in the Ducks’ single-season history.
The Texas Longhorns are the fourth-ranked team and are looking for their first national title since 2005. Texas will face some tough competition in its inaugural year in the powerful SEC. Quarterback Quinn Ewers will lead the offense, backed up by the capable Arch Manning. Entering his third year, Ewers has 5,656 career passing yards, which ranks eighth all-time in Texas history. The offensive line is led by tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., who has started 27 straight games and is a pre-season All-American.
