Change is coming to the College Football Playoff in a big way next season. The postseason tournament will grow from four teams to 12. As of now, the 12 teams in the bracket will include the six highest-rated conference champions, according to the CFP Rankings, and the next six highest-ranked programs. The top four conference champions will get byes into the quarterfinals.
There is a legitimate chance that format will be adjusted to account for the demise of the Pac-12. That could result in something as simple as guaranteeing playoff spots for only the top five conference champions (with seven at-large bids) or something more drastic, such as doing away with automatic qualifiers entirely.
For the purpose of this exercise, I am using my bowl projections to determine the order of the four conference champions projected to receive byes into the quarterfinals in this bracket and AP rankings for the other teams.
I am making one change to that for this week, however, as USC is ranked below Washington and Oregon in the AP Top 25. If the Trojans are the conference champions, as I am projecting, they would definitely be the highest-ranked Pac-12 team, so I have moved them up accordingly. The other first-round teams are seeded in the order that they are currently ranked in this week's AP poll.
Oklahoma's victory over Texas puts the Sooners in the projected 12-team field this week, but the Longhorns remain in the mix as the expected Big 12 champion and No. 4 seed. Notre Dame has dropped out of the field following its loss at Louisville. Also, Fresno State's loss at Wyoming has bounced the Bulldogs back out of the bracket, so Tulane is back as the Group of Five representative ... for now.
Let's take a look at how the 12-team playoff would look through six full weeks of the 2023 season.
(9) Washington at (8) Penn State
Winner advances to play (1) Georgia*
(12) Tulane* at (5) Ohio State
Winner advances to play (4) Texas*
(11) Alabama at (6) Oklahoma
Winner advances to play (3) Florida State*
(10) Oregon at (7) USC*
Winner advances to play 2 Michigan*
* Projected conference champion
