Ohio State came out on top in the national championship on Monday, outlasting a late Notre Dame comeback push to win 34-23.
The game brought an end to the first edition of the expanded College Football Playoff, which features 12 teams vying for the title instead of four.
The current CFP structure isn’t perfect, but it’s generally believed to be an improvement on what came before. More changes are likely coming, but there’s already a lot to like about this era — even with a less-than-competitive championship game.
Here are four takeaways from the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The 12-team format opens the door for unlikely champions.
If all you knew about the 2024 college football season was that Ohio State claimed the championship, you probably wouldn’t think much was achieved by moving to a 12-team College Football Playoff format.
After all, Ohio State is a powerhouse nearly every year. The Buckeyes have been in two championship games in the past 10 years and won one.
But even though a familiar face took home the trophy, the expanded College Football Playoff did expand the size of one of the sport world’s biggest spotlights.
Instead of zeroing in on the top five or 10 seasons toward the end of the season, CFP fans were following the top 15 or 20, since a much bigger group than normal remained in contention for a playoff spot.
And without the 12-team format, Ohio State wouldn’t have had a shot at winning the championship this year. The Buckeyes missed out on the Big Ten championship after an unexpected loss to Michigan and were ranked No. 6 in the final CFP rankings.
The College Football Playoff isn’t done evolving.
This season was the first with a 12-team College Football Playoff, and there’s a slim chance it will be the last.
Further expansion of the CFP is already up for debate, although most experts believe additional changes won’t come until the 2026 season.
“Changes could come as soon as next season but are more likely to arrive in 2026 since the contract for the CFP’s current structure only runs through the 2025 season,” Front Office Sports reported.
In addition to potentially expanding the College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams in the future, the CFP management committee is considering adjusting the seeding process.
As it stands, the four highest ranked conference champions receive the top four seeds and a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
But this year’s playoff revealed a couple of issues with that approach, including that the top-seeded teams don’t get to host a playoff game on their campus.
Additionally, the top four seeds all lost in the first round in which they competed, which raised more questions about whether the bye was a blessing or a curse.
“Automatic bids for conference champions and Playoff seeding have been two of the most controversial aspects of the expanded CFP and could be the most likely to be altered,” per Front Office Sports.
Rankings remain a problem.
Future changes to the seeding process won’t resolve ranking issues, which are a perennial problem in the college football world.
In the 12-team playoff era — as in the 4-team playoff era, as in the BCS era — no one agrees on the right way to rank the country’s top schools, and personal bias undoubtedly influences the process.
The frustration among fans, coaches and football analysts seemed especially intense this year, and questions were raised about whether historically dominant conferences and schools got preferential treatment.
Then when one such school, Alabama, was left out of the College Football Playoff, a new round of debate began over whether factors like strength of schedule were given enough weight.
There will always be some dissatisfaction with the ranking process, in part because sowing anger is how some sports networks keep their audience.
But it does seem like the CFP Selection Committee will have to come up with clearer, fairer metrics in the future to ensure that teams aren’t rewarded for the wrong things — and that fans don’t start tuning out.
College football is fun.
Although I really do think it’s possible that drama related to the ranking process could eventually lead a not insignificant number of fans to stop caring about postseason football, I have a hard time imagining ever disengaging myself.
No matter how I feel about the final rankings, I end up glued to my TV during CFP games. I love the pomp and circumstance, the special TV segments on players, the coaches' interviews, the memes and, of course, the action on the field.
I love when the team I’ve often inexplicably chosen to root for wins by a lot, but also when they win by a little. I love when the confetti falls from the sky and when the winning team gets special t-shirts.
In other words, I love the spectacle, and this year was no exception.
The College Football Playoff, warts and all, is fun, and I already can’t wait for next year.