The Future of the College Football Playoffs: Jumping from 4 to 12

LAS VEGAS — New College Football Playoff Executive Director, and former Air Force General, Rich Clark gave further insight to the new format of the 12-team playoff Wednesday at Big 12 football media day. 

“This is the biggest change in college football since the forward pass in my point of view. I think it’s just gonna be, no pun intended, a game-changer for all of us,” said Clark.

This change is set to commence in the 2024-2025 season from the current four-team format to 12.

“A lot of thought has gotten into this,” said Clark. “It is about giving access, so we like so many other sports can actually play to the championships and actually let the decision happen on the field.” 

“I think college football needed it. Everyone gets to prove it on the field,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake. 

Clark’s vision for the CFP is to focus on year one and make it the best yet. 

“My main vision and main concern is to make this year spectacular,” said Clark. “We can’t muddle into this we have to hit it with a bang so that people go ‘okay that’s the right decision.’”

There are concerns about which teams will get selected by the committee, but overall, this gives more opportunities for other teams to have a chance at winning the national title.

“With the expansion … it gives us some margin of error,” said Clark. “I do think that every game is gonna matter and gonna be important. Even with the 12 teams, there are still gonna be 20 teams at the end in the hunt.”

The CFP values the conference championships so each of the five winners will have an automatic entry into the playoffs. This gives the Big 12 conference at least one entry. 

“I think the vision of the playoffs have never been more transparent, especially for us at BYU. The map and the road to the playoffs is pretty simple and has never been this simple for us. It’s win the conference and you’re in,” said Sitake. 

BYU will be looking to make its debut in this new playoff structure. 

“[If] you’re looking at competitive football, especially in the Big 12 in November, It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Sitake.