The College Football Playoff committee announced on Friday that despite talks of expansion last summer, a four-team playoff would remain the College Football Playoff format through its current contract that expires at the end of 2025-26 season.
“The Board of Managers has accepted a recommendation from the Management Committee to continue the current four-team playoff for the next four years, as called for in the CFP’s original 12-year plan,” Executive Director Bill Hancock said in a statement. “At the same time, the Board expects the Management Committee to continue its discussions of a new format that would go into effect for the 2026-27 season.”
The announcement was met with disappointment from most of the college football world, after the news from last offseason that a 12-team format with home quarterfinal games had been seriously discussed.
Instead, the sport’s way of determining a champion will play out with the selection of four teams after conference championship weekend. The weekly rankings will still lead to unhealthy amounts of meaningless discourse around whether a team is the best or the most deserving and whether that team belongs in the playoff.
For Georgia, it has found success in the College Football Playoff’s four-team format. The Bulldogs have twice made the College Football Playoff, joining Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Clemson and Notre Dame as the only teams to make the playoff twice.
Each time Georgia made the College Football Playoff, the Bulldogs twice advanced to the national championship game. Both times saw Georgia play Alabama in said championship game. Georgia lost the first time in heartbreaking fashion, before winning 33-18 in January.
Related: Georgia football winners and losers from the 2022 National Championship Game
That Georgia has twice made the College Football Playoff shows that it can continue to do so. But the Bulldogs’ do have a higher bar to clear than say Clemson or Oklahoma.
Both times Georgia made the playoff, it did so as one of two SEC teams. This past season, Georgia benefitted from the Pac-12, Big-12 and ACC all having multiple-loss conference champions. Had Oklahoma or say a USC finished with one loss, maybe Georgia has to sweat a little more on selection Sunday after its 41-24 loss to the Crimson Tide.
Playing in the SEC clearly provides a benefit to Georgia. But there have been times where losing the SEC championship game has kept Georgia out of the playoff, even if they were the more deserving team. Georgia was 11-1 entering the SEC championship game in both 2018 and 2019. It lost to unbeaten Alabama and LSU in those respective seasons and was the first team out in the final rankings both times.
The message from the College Football Playoff committee has been made very clear with regard to Georgia. You have one loss after the conference championship game or you don’t make the College Football Playoff.
The College Football Playoff committee has not yet placed a team with two losses in the College Football Playoffs. It finally put a Group of 5 team in the field this past year with Cincinnati making the field. Oklahoma has been the only Big 12 team to make the playoff, while no PAC-12 team has made the field since 2016.
Even if the College Football Playoff feels like an exclusive club, Georgia has proven to get access when it takes care of business during the regular season. But that is going to become harder for Georgia going forward.
As it stands, Texas and Oklahoma are set to join the SEC by 2025 at the latest. The two could join earlier than that, but it would require a hefty buyout paid to the Big 12. Georgia also has future non-conference games lined up against Oregon, Oklahoma and Clemson in each of the next three seasons and none of them are scheduled to be played in Sanford Stadium.
Four team College Football Playoff likely hurts Georgia football more than it helps - DawgNation
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