College Football Playoff#Bowl selections

From its formation in 2014 to the end of the 2023 season, the College Football Playoff used a four-team knockout bracket to determine the national champion. Six bowl games—the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Peach Bowl– rotated as hosts for the semifinals.{{cite news|title=Chick-fil-A Bowl will restore 'Peach' to its name|author=Tim Tucker|newspaper=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=April 18, 2014|access-date=April 20, 2014|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/college-football/chick-fil-a-bowl-will-restore-peach-to-its-name/nfcpT/|archive-date=January 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131114709/http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/college-football/chick-fil-a-bowl-will-restore-peach-to-its-name/nfcpT/|url-status=dead}} The rotation was set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: Rose/Sugar, Orange/Cotton, and Fiesta/Peach. The two semifinal bowls and the other four top-tier bowls were marketed as the New Year's Six.{{cite news|title=Sources: 'New Year's Six' likely the working title for College Football Playoff's six bowl games|author=|newspaper=Dallas Morning News|date=July 22, 2013|access-date=July 26, 2013|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20130722-sources-new-year-s-six-likely-the-working-title-for-college-football-playoff-s-six-bowl-games.ece|archive-date=November 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119055900/http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20130722-sources-new-year-s-six-likely-the-working-title-for-college-football-playoff-s-six-bowl-games.ece|url-status=dead}} Per contract, the Rose and Sugar Bowls were always on New Year's Day. Originally three games were held on New Year's Eve with the other three on New Year's Day. However, disappointing TV ratings in the first rotation led to games originally planned for New Year's Eve be moved to as early as December 27 in some years. The selection committee seeded the top four teams, and also assigned teams to the at-large bowls (Cotton, Fiesta, and Peach) in years when they did not host semifinals.{{cite web|title=College Football Playoff Releases Details of Selection Committee Procedure|publisher=College Football Playoff|date=May 1, 2014|access-date=May 6, 2014|url=http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/story?id=10867569|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521033130/http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/story?id=10867569|archive-date=May 21, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

The four-team format pitted the No. 1-ranked team against No. 4 and No. 2 against No. 3. The seeding determined the semifinal bowl game assigned to each matchup; the No. 1 seed chose its bowl game to prevent it from playing in a "road" environment. There were no limits on the number of teams per conference, a change from previous BCS rules. However, some non-semifinal bowl selections still maintain their conference tie-ins, similarly to the BCS's automatic qualifier berths.[https://www.espn.com/i/ncf/bcs/CFP_One_Pager_Cities_1.pdf The Playoff factsheet], [https://www.espn.com/i/ncf/bcs/CFP_One_Pager_Cities_1.pdf], College Football Playoff, January 2014

The CFP expanded to a 12-team format for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-01 |title=Source: Rose Bowl allows for 12-team CFP in '24 |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/35152132/rose-bowl-agrees-amended-deal-paving-way-early-cfp-expansion |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-02-21 |title=With 12 Team Playoff Set, CFP Already Discussing Probably Adding More Teams for 2026 and Beyond |url=https://apnews.com/article/college-football-playoff-0d929a5c6c3241d8077320335e179339 |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=apnews.com |language=en}}

Features of the expanded playoff include:

• Guaranteed bids for the top five conference champions in the CFP rankings; no conference will have an automatic bid, a conference must have a minimum of eight members for its champion to be eligible for a guaranteed bid.
• At-large bids for the seven highest-ranked remaining teams, which could include additional conference champions.
• The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive first-round byes.
• The remaining teams will play each other in the first round at the home fields of the better seeds or an alternate venue of their choosing; match-ups will be 5–12, 6–11, 7–10, and 8–9.
• The quarterfinals and semifinals will be hosted by the New Year's Six (the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, and Sugar Bowls) on a rotating basis.
• The championship game will continue to be held at a separately determined neutral site.
• The playoff bracket will not be reseeded at any time.
• First round games will occur in December, quarterfinal games on or around New Year's Day, semifinal games at least one week later, and the championship game one week after the semifinals.

The teams seeded 5–12 will play first-round games hosted by the better seed, either at their home stadium or another venue of their choosing.

{{main|New Year's Six}}

The semifinal and quarterfinal rounds of the playoff are hosted by the New Year's Six: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. These games are played annually on or around New Year's Day and represent six of the oldest and most prestigious college football bowl games.

During the four-team playoff era, the bowls rotated on a three-year cycle. Two of the six bowls served as the CFP semifinals for any given year with the following pairings: Rose/Sugar, Orange/Cotton, and Fiesta/Peach. The year's four off-cycle bowls hosted bowl games outside of the CFP tournament bracket.

In the 12-team playoff format, four of the six bowls host quarterfinal games on or around New Year's Day (which are determined in the above pairings on a three-year cycle). The winners advance to play in the semifinals, held in the two remaining bowls one week later. The bowls will again cycle on a rotating basis.

{{main|College Football Playoff National Championship}}

Cities around the country bid to host each year's championship game. The playoff group's leaders make a selection from those proposals, in a similar fashion to other large sporting events, such as the NCAA Final Four. Officials say the championship game will be held in a different city each year, and that bids must propose host stadiums with a capacity of at least 65,000 spectators.{{cite news|title=CFB playoff opens bidding for 2016, '17 championship games|author=Jerry Hinnen|work=CBSSports.com|date=August 7, 2013|access-date=August 9, 2013|url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/23053828/cfb-playoff-opens-bidding-for-2016-2017-championship-games}} Under the system, cities cannot host both a semifinal game and the title game in the same year.

In practice, since the inaugural CFP national championship game every title game up to and including the 2025 season has been played (or is scheduled to be played) in a stadium hosting at least one National Football League team, and has been played indoors or in a warm-weather city.

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee consists of 13 members who generally serve three-year terms, although some initial 2013 selections served two- and four-year terms "to achieve a rotation" of members.{{cite web|title=College Football Playoff Announces Selection Committee|publisher=College Football Playoff official website|date=October 14, 2013|url=http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/story?id=9825420|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018080705/http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/story?id=9825420|archive-date=October 18, 2013}}[http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/story?id=10328143 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers About the College Football Playoff Selection Committee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126135539/http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/story?id=10328143 |date=January 26, 2014 }}, College Football Playoff, January 21, 2014

The 2024–25 CFP selection committee members are:[https://collegefootballplayoff.com/sports/selectioncommittee/roster 2023 "College Football Playoff Selection Committee" ] College Football Playoff 15 December 2023

• Chris Ault, retired Nevada athletic director and football coach
• Chet Gladchuck, U.S. Naval Academy athletic director
• Jim Grobe, retired football coach at Wake Forest, Baylor, and Ohio
• Warde Manuel, Michigan athletic director
• Randall McDaniel, former NFL player and Arizona State All-American
• Gary Pinkel, former head coach of Toledo and Missouri
• Mack Rhoades, Baylor athletic director
• Mike Riley, former head coach of Oregon State and Nebraska
• David Sayler, Miami (Ohio) athletic director
• Will Shields, former NFL player and Nebraska All-American
• Kelly Whiteside, former college football reporter for Newsday, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today
• Carla Williams, Virginia athletic director
• Hunter Yurachek, Arkansas athletic director

The committee members include one current athletic director from each of the five "major" conferences—ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC—also known as the Power Five conferences.{{cite web|title=College Football Playoff selection committee to include current ADs|author=Matt Hayes|publisher=SportingNews.com|date=July 17, 2013|access-date=July 24, 2013|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2013-07-17/college-football-playoff-selection-committee-athletic-directors-bill-hancock|archive-date=July 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721011407/http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2013-07-17/college-football-playoff-selection-committee-athletic-directors-bill-hancock|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |last=Schroeder |first=Dave |title=Power Five's College Football Playoff revenues will double what BCS paid |date=July 16, 2014 |newspaper=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/07/16/college-football-playoff-financial-revenues-money-distribution-bill-hancock/12734897/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209005809/http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/07/16/college-football-playoff-financial-revenues-money-distribution-bill-hancock/12734897/ |archive-date=December 9, 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=November 3, 2017 }}{{Update inline|date=October 2024|reason=The Pac-12 is no longer a power conference}} Other members are former coaches, players, athletic directors, and administrators, plus a retired member of the media. The goal was for the panel to consist proportionally of current "Power Five" athletic directors, former coaches, and a third group of other voters, excluding current conference commissioners, coaches, and media members.{{cite web|title=Parameters for selectors in place|author=Brett McMurphy|work=ESPN.com|date=May 29, 2013|access-date=August 10, 2013|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/9322590/parameters-playoff-selection-group-place}} During the selection process, organizers said they wanted the committee to be geographically balanced.{{cite web|title=Phil Fulmer eyes selection committee|date=August 9, 2013|access-date=August 9, 2013|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/9555401/former-tennessee-volunteers-coach-philip-fulmer-wants-playoff-committee}} Conference commissioners submitted lists totaling more than 100 names from which to select the final committee members.{{cite news|title=Playoff selection committee to be set by season's end|author=George Schroeder|date=Sep 25, 2013|access-date=September 26, 2013|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/09/25/bcs-college-football-playoff-meeting-bill-hancock/2871505/|work=USA Today}}

{{notelist|group=former}}

The selection of Condoleezza Rice, a former U.S. Secretary of State and Stanford University provost, was met with some backlash within the sport and the media. Critics questioned her qualifications, citing gender and lack of football experience.{{cite magazine|title=Condoleezza Rice discusses her role on the selection committee|author=Stewart Mandel|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=October 16, 2013|access-date=March 12, 2014|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131016/condoleezza-rice-college-football-playoff/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019155519/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131016/condoleezza-rice-college-football-playoff/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 19, 2013}}{{cite news|title=How controversial Condoleezza Rice pick will affect Dallas' national championship game |author=Chuck Carlton|newspaper=Dallas Morning News|date=October 15, 2013|access-date=March 12, 2014|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20131015-how-controversial-condoleezza-rice-pick-will-affect-dallas-national-championship-game.ece}}

The committee releases its top 25 rankings weekly on Tuesdays in the second half of the regular season. The top four teams are seeded in that order for the playoff.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/10859331/college-football-playoff-1st-ranking-released-oct-28|title=CFP to release rankings on Tuesdays|author=Brett McMurphy|work=ESPN.com|date=April 29, 2014|access-date=April 30, 2014}}{{Cite web|last=Parks|first=James|date=2021-10-05|title=How the CFB Playoff chooses the Top 4 teams|url=https://cfb-hq.com/2021/10/05/college-football-playoff-rankings-selection-process-top-4-bowl-games/|access-date=2021-10-11|website=College Football HQ|language=en-US|archive-date=October 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011001013/https://cfb-hq.com/2021/10/05/college-football-playoff-rankings-selection-process-top-4-bowl-games/|url-status=dead}} During the season, the committee meets and releases rankings six or seven times, depending on the length of the season (the number of games is consistent, but the number of weeks those games are played over can vary from year to year).{{cite web|title=Bill Hancock, Archie Manning talk playoff|author=Heather Dinich|work=ESPN.com|date=January 9, 2015|access-date=January 24, 2015|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/79290/bill-hancock-archie-manning-talk-playoff}} The group, which meets at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine, Texas,{{cite news|title=College Football Playoff committee discusses recusals|author=George Schroeder|newspaper=USA Today|date=April 3, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/04/03/college-football-playoff-committee-meeting-recusal-policy/7261677/}} reportedly meets in person up to 10 total times a year.

A team's strength of schedule is one of the most pertinent considerations for the committee in making its selections.{{cite magazine|title=How could a mid-major qualify for the College Football Playoff?|author=Stewart Mandel|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=March 10, 2014|access-date=March 12, 2014|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140310/college-football-playoff-mid-majors/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311054744/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140310/college-football-playoff-mid-majors/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 11, 2014}} Other factors that the committee weighs are conference championships, team records, and head-to-head results, plus other points such as injuries and weather.{{cite web|title=Report: College Football Playoff committee will use current athletics directors|author=Jon Solomon|publisher=AL.com|date=July 17, 2013|access-date=August 11, 2013|url=http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/college_football_playoff_commi.html}} Unlike the BCS system, the AP Poll, Coaches' Poll, and the Harris Poll, computer rankings are not used to make the selections. Advanced statistics and metrics are expected to be submitted to the committee, though like other analytics, they have no formal role in the decision.{{cite magazine|title=College Football's Playoff Problem|magazine=Forbes.com|author=Tom Van Riper|date=March 1, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2014/03/01/college-footballs-playoff-problem/}} Committee members are not required to attend games.

Long said the panel considered less frequent rankings, but ultimately decided on a weekly release. "That's what the fans have become accustomed to, and we felt it would leave a void in college football without a ranking for several weeks," he said. Long also noted: "Early on there was some talk that we would go into a room at the end of the season and come out with a top four, but that didn't last long."{{cite news|title=Playoff committee sets parameters|agency=Associated Press|work=ESPN.com|date=May 1, 2014|access-date=May 7, 2014|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/10864040/college-football-playoff-selection-committee-sets-parameters-season}} In analyzing this change in thinking, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated commented: "The whole point of the selection committee was to replace the simplistic horse-race nature of Top 25 polls – where teams only move up if someone above them loses – with a more deliberative evaluation method. Now the playoff folks are going to try to do both."{{cite web|title=College Football Playoff to release polls ... but why?|author=Stewart Mandel|publisher=SI.com|date=April 30, 2014|access-date=May 20, 2014|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140430/college-football-playoff-top-25-polls/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140521005416/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140430/college-football-playoff-top-25-polls/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 21, 2014}} Addressing the "pecking order" nature of traditional polls, George Schrodeder of USA Today wrote that "if it actually works as intended, we could see volatile swings" from week to week, with lower-ranked teams moving ahead of higher-ranked teams without either team losing (a rarity in traditional polls). Both Long and Bill Hancock, the CFP executive director, say they expect that to happen.{{cite news|title=Playoff decided on field, but questioned everywhere else|author=George Schroeder|newspaper=USA Today|date=May 1, 2014|access-date=May 20, 2014|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/05/01/college-football-playoff-selection-committee-top-25-rankings-recusal-policy/8549145/}}

The committee's voting method uses multiple ballots, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and the entire process is facilitated through custom software developed by Code Authority in Frisco, Texas.{{cite web|title=How an Oklahoma software developer wound up in the middle of college football's biggest decision|author=Jenni Carlson|publisher=newsok.com|date=December 2, 2015|access-date=October 11, 2017|url=http://newsok.com/article/5464279|archive-date=May 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513195401/http://newsok.com/article/5464279|url-status=dead}} From a large initial pool of teams, the group takes numerous votes on successive tiers of teams, considering six at a time and coming to a consensus on how they should be ranked, then repeating the process with the next tier of teams. Discussion and debate happens at each voting step. All votes are by secret ballot, and committee members do not make their ballots public. Each week's ranking process begins anew, with no weight given to the previous week's selections. In this fashion, the committee selects the teams to compete for the national championship.

Committee members who are currently employed or financially compensated by a school, or have family members who have a current financial relationship (which includes football players), are not allowed to vote for that school. During deliberations about a team's selection, members with such a conflict of interest cannot be present, but can answer factual questions about the institution. All committee members have past ties to certain NCAA institutions, but the committee decided to ignore those ties in the recusal requirements. "We just boiled it down to where we felt this group was fit to its high integrity and would differentiate from those past relationships," Long said. Some football writers, like Dennis Dodd and Mark Schlabach, have said the recusal arrangement isn't transparent or objective, suggesting that members' alma maters and former coaching jobs should be considered disqualifying conflicts of interest.{{cite web|title=How to say 'I recuse myself'?|author=Mark Schlabach|work=ESPN.com|date=May 1, 2014|access-date=May 20, 2014|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/10866880/college-football-playoff-recusal-policy-leaves-more-questions-answers}}{{cite news|title=Flimsy recusal policy puts bull's-eye on playoff selection committee|author=Dennis Dodd|work=CBSSports.com|date=April 30, 2014|access-date=May 20, 2014|url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24546912/flimsy-recusal-policy-puts-bulls-eye-on-playoff-selection-committee}}

{{Main|College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS}}

College football is arguably the oldest organized sport in the United States. It is substantially older than its professional counterpart, the NFL, and its earliest game, in 1869, was occurring at almost the same time professional baseball was getting started. The game developed into a popular sport with its own unique "post-season" of bowl games by the end of the first four decades of the 20th Century, the time around which the NCAA began to develop and oversee post-season tournaments in other sports.

The NCAA did eventually come to oversee much of college football. For example, in 1957, the NCAA organized college football into University and College divisions, with larger programs in the University Division, smaller ones in the College Division. In 1973, the NCAA created Division I out of the University Division, and Divisions II and III out of the College Division for smaller programs with scholarships (Div II) and without scholarships (Div III). In 1978, Division I was sub-divided into I-A (largest programs) and I-AA, which would later be renamed FBS (I-A) and FCS (I-AA) respectively. As the smaller divisions and FCS subdivision were created, the NCAA organized post-season playoffs for them.

However, FBS programs resisted making any changes to how its post-season was organized. This was because of the popularity and profitability of bowl games, which had become major TV events in the decades following World War II. Bowl games, which for many years were only exhibition games, became so popular and important within college football that, starting in 1965, the AP (sportswriters) Poll waited until after the bowl games were completed to declare its national champion. The other major poll, UPI (Coaches) began doing so in 1974.

This evolution led the FBS annual "national champion" open to considerable debate and controversy. At times in the past, particularly during the polling era from 1936 to 1997, the term "mythical national championship" was frequently used, and larger programs have often unilaterally declared themselves national champions.{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Or8tAAAAIBAJ&pg=5470%2C2495096 | title=Syracuse and Cornell Still Top Gridders | date=November 12, 1923 | newspaper=The Reading Eagle | location=Reading, Pennsylvania | page=12 | access-date=May 5, 2015 | archive-date=November 17, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117041751/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Or8tAAAAIBAJ&pg=5470%2C2495096 | url-status=live }}{{cite book|editor1-last=Viehman|editor1-first=Harold H.|title=The 1939 Owl|date=1939|publisher=University of Pittsburgh|location=Pittsburgh|page=276|url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittyearbooks&cc=pittyearbooks&idno=1939e49702&node=1939e49702%3A20&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=281|access-date=May 5, 2015|archive-date=April 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404055810/http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittyearbooks&cc=pittyearbooks&idno=1939e49702&node=1939e49702:20&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=281|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/8025013 | title=Subtracting AP poll leaves BCS again scrambling for legitimacy| first=Dennis|last= Dodd | work=CBS Sports |date=December 22, 2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308042732/http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/8025013 | archive-date=March 8, 2013 | access-date=May 5, 2015 | url-status=dead}}{{cite web | url=http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-16515-uc-football-in-the-hunt-for-a-big-east-crown-and-bcs-bid.html | title=UC Football in the Hunt for a Big East Crown and BCS Bid | first=Bill | last=Peterson | publisher=Citybeat.com | date=November 5, 2008 | access-date=May 5, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609103423/http://citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-16515-uc-football-in-the-hunt-for-a-big-east-crown-and-bcs-bid.html | archive-date=June 9, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}{{cite journal | url=http://www.secsportsfan.com/support-files/october_09.pdf | title=How many national titles can Alabama really lay claim to? Better yet, why is there more than one answer? (republished with permission from the Birmingham Weekly) | journal=The College Football Historian | publisher=Intercollegiate Football Researchers Association | editor-first=Tex | editor-last=Noel | first=Matt | last=Hooper | date=October 10, 2009 | volume=2 | issue=9 | issn=2326-3628 | access-date=May 5, 2015 | archive-date=September 24, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924100001/http://www.secsportsfan.com/support-files/october_09.pdf | url-status=live }}

While the NCAA has never officially endorsed a championship team, it has documented the choices of some selectors in its official NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records publication.{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2022/FBS.pdf |title=2022 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records |section=National Champion Major Selections (1896 to Present) |pages=112–114 |publisher=The National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=July 2022 |location=Indianapolis |access-date=January 4, 2023 |quote=The criteria for being included in this historical list of poll selectors is that the poll be national in scope, either through distribution in newspaper, television, radio and/or computer online. The list includes both former selectors, who were instrumental in the sport of college football, and selectors who were among the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) selectors.}}{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2022/FBS.pdf |title=2022 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records |section=Final National Poll Leaders |pages=114–119 |publisher=The National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=July 2022 |location=Indianapolis |access-date=January 4, 2023 }} In addition, various analysts have independently published their own choices for each season. These opinions can often diverge with others as well as individual schools' claims to national titles, which may or may not correlate to the selections published elsewhere. Among the most widely recognized national champion selectors has been the Associated Press (AP), which has conducted the AP Poll of sportswriters since the 1936 season.{{cite book|last1=Walsh|first1=Christopher J.|title=Who's #1?: 100-Plus Years of Controversial National Champions in College Football|date=2007|publisher=Taylor Trade Publications|isbn=9781461734765|pages=13–16, 148–149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cEVAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|access-date=May 5, 2015|archive-date=November 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126063024/https://books.google.com/books?id=7cEVAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|url-status=live}} (see also: List of AP Poll national champions).{{cite web |title=AP National Championships |url=https://collegepollarchive.com/football/ap/research/national-championships.cfm |website=College Poll Archive |access-date=2 May 2024}}{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org.s3.amazonaws.com/Docs/stats/football_records/FBS.pdf |title=2023 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=2023 |access-date=August 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826124459/http://fs.ncaa.org.s3.amazonaws.com/Docs/stats/football_records/FBS.pdf |archive-date=August 26, 2023 |url-status=unfit}} The AP's main competition, United Press International (UPI), created the first Coaches Poll in 1950. (see also: List of Coaches' Poll national champions). The two polls have picked different final national poll leaders at the end of 11 different seasons since then;{{cite news |last=Dubow |first=Josh |agency=Associated Press |date=January 3, 2004 |title=Split national championships nothing new to college football — 11 times since 1950 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120183290/split-national-championships-nothing/ |work=The Modesto Bee |access-date=March 4, 2023 |quote=List of the 11 split national titles since 1950: 1954, 1957, 1965, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2003}} this situation is referred to as a "split" national championship.{{cite news |last=Shapiro |first=Leonard |date=January 3, 1992 |title=Miami, Washington Earn Split Decision for No. 1 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1992/01/03/miami-washington-earn-split-decision-for-no-1/87a97d8b-fcef-403d-87bf-3e46f91a3bb4/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 15, 2022 |quote=The triumphant Miami and Washington teams exulted on separate coasts yesterday, each celebrating the outcome of at least one major poll that proclaimed it the national college football champion for 1991.}}

As the years passed, public pressure for a playoff grew, especially following seasons in which there were split national championships in the polls. By the 1990s, the sport underwent several changes that led to a playoff. The 1992 SEC Championship Game was an enormous risk that paid off well for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) that year and in future years and gave a glimpse at what post-season football might look like.{{cite news |last=Low |first=Chris |date=August 18, 2022 |title=How the 1992 SEC Championship Game Altered the College Football Landscape Forever |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34408233/how-1992-sec-championship-game-altered-college-football-landscape-forever}} Other conferences would follow suit over the next decade. FBS schools also began making changes to bowl games themselves in the 1990s to increase the likelihood of having the top two ranked teams play each other. However, existing bowl tie-ins with conferences made arrangements such as the Bowl Coalition (1992–1994){{cite news |last=Fachet |first=Robert |date=January 24, 1992 |title=Bowl Deal Set with Coalition |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1992/01/24/bowl-deal-set-with-coalition/b1c32c81-f10d-49b9-a604-65cb6bc003a0/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 10, 2022 |quote=...under an agreement hammered out yesterday by the College Football Bowl Coalition that also provides enhanced opportunity for a national championship game.}} and then Bowl Alliance (1995–1997){{cite news |last=Murray |first=Ken |date=September 1, 1995 |title='ALLIANCE' AIMS HIGH No. 1 vs. 2 is goal of new bowl setup, but Rose is prickly |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-09-01-1995244105-story.html |work=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=August 11, 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702130900/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-09-01-1995244105-story.html |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |quote=Briefly, the Bowl Coalition has been replaced by the Bowl Alliance, which will spread five conference champions (ACC, Big East, Big Eight, Southeastern, Southwest) plus Notre Dame around three different bowls. The championship game between the Nos. 1 and 2 alliance teams will be rotated among the Fiesta (this year), Sugar (1996) and Orange (1997) bowls. Unlike the coalition, the alliance has eliminated conference tie-ins to its respective bowls.}} clumsy and incomplete at best. By 1997, public pressure from fans, coaches, and commentators for a true playoff of some kind had grown too great to ignore.{{cite news |last1=Barbati |first1=Carl |last2=Cannizzaro |first2=Mark |date=January 3, 1988 |title=Should there be college Super Bowl? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111956213/should-there-be-college-super-bowl/ |work=The Courier–News |publication-place=Bridgewater, New Jersey |access-date=October 24, 2022 |quote=Only luck ensures one of the many current bowl games gets the No. 1 and No. 2 teams to play each other.}}{{cite magazine |last=Jenkins |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Jenkins |date=December 22, 1969 |title=Knute Rockne Would Have Agreed, Ara |magazine=Sports Illustrated |location=Chicago |volume=31 |number=26 |pages=26–31 |url= https://vault.si.com/vault/1969/12/22/knute-would-have-agreed-ara |access-date=February 27, 2023}}{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=January 5, 1978 |title=Paterno Advocates Playoff System |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120432832/paterno-advocates-playoff-system-1978/ |work=Lancaster New Era |place=New York |publication-place=Lancaster, Pennsylvania |access-date=March 8, 2023}}{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=December 5, 1985 |title=Paterno: Playoffs should decide who's No. 1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120430145/paterno-playoffs-should-decide-whos/ |work=The Sentinel |place=New York |publication-place=Carlisle, Pennsylvania |access-date=March 8, 2023}}

The Bowl Championship Series in 1998 succeeded in finally bringing all major conferences and bowl games into the fold for a combined BCS National Championship Game rotated amongst the four largest, most profitable bowl games - Fiesta, Orange, Rose, and Sugar. BCS rankings originally incorporated the two major polls as well as a number of computer ranking systems to determine the two best teams at the end of the season.{{cite web |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |title=The road to the BCS has been a long one |url=https://assets.espn.go.com/ncf/s/historybcs.html |website=ESPN College Football |access-date=May 7, 2015 |date=October 21, 2001 |archive-date=September 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912151248/http://assets.espn.go.com/ncf/s/historybcs.html |url-status=live}} Although the BCS era did regularly produce compelling matchups, the winnowing selection of the top two teams resulted in many BCS controversies, most notably 2003's split national championship caused by the BCS rankings leaving USC, No. 1 in both major polls, out of the Sugar Bowl.{{cite news |last=Schlabach |first=Mark |date=December 22, 2004 |title=AP Opts Out Of Formula For BCS |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2004/12/22/ap-opts-out-of-formula-for-bcs/80001a92-4577-4fdc-a52e-0bfc4588829c/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 26, 2022 }} This controversy ultimately led to the AP Poll withdrawing from the BCS, and additional fine-tuning of the BCS formula. After that, the controversies lessened, but the BCS approach itself had lost the confidence of many within the college football world, and ultimately the pressure for more change led to the development of the College Football Playoff.

In 2014, the College Football Playoff made its debut, facilitating a multi-game single-elimination tournament for the first time in college football history. Four teams are seeded by a 13-member selection committee rather than by existing polls or mathematical rankings.{{cite news |last=Kilgore |first=Adam |date=September 1, 2015 |title=College football rankings provide problems and little else in playoff era |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2015/09/01/polls-still-popular-but-have-little-impact-after-arrival-of-college-football-playoff/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=March 2, 2023}} The Cotton and Peach bowls were also brought into the fold. The two semifinal games became rotated among these New Year's Six bowl games, set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: Rose/Sugar, Orange/Cotton, and Fiesta/Peach. The College Football Playoff National Championship is then played a week later at a separately determined neutral site.

From the beginning of the CFP, many within college football wanted a playoff larger than four teams. The four team playoff seems to have been arrived at through a combination of concerns such as keeping the regular season meaningful, balancing academic schedules, and fear of eroding public support for bowl games.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/12/07/369191164/why-does-the-college-playoffs-only-have-4-teams|title=Poll: Why Do The College Football Playoffs Only Have 4 Teams?|date=2014-12-07|website=npr.org|language=en|access-date=2024-07-14}}

Several years of the 4-team playoff led to growing calls for expansion. In June 2021, the CFP announced that it would begin studying an expansion to a 12-team playoff. The CFP stated that the starting time of any new format would only be determined after it had been approved.{{cite press release |url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/news/2021/6/10/12-team-playoff-proposal.aspx |title=12-Team Playoff Proposed By College Football Playoff Working Group |publisher=College Football Playoff |date=June 10, 2021 |accessdate=June 23, 2021}}

On February 18, 2022, the CFP rejected the playoff proposal that had seemed to have already won approval, largely through resistance of the Atlantic Coast Conference. This pushed implementation of any changes to the playoff pool to no sooner than the 2026 season.{{Cite web|date=2022-02-18|title=CFP to remain at 4 teams through 2025 season|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/33319948/college-football-playoff-remain-4-teams-12-year-contract-expires-2025-season|access-date=2022-02-18|website=ESPN.com|language=en}} However, that decision was reversed on September 2, 2022, following the announcement by USC and UCLA that they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. The "alliance" between the ACC, Pac-12, and Big Ten dissolved, and along with it resistance to playoff expansion. The CFP Board of Managers unanimously voted to expand the playoffs to 12 teams, with the earliest possible change happening in the 2024 season.{{Cite web|date=2022-09-02|title=Sources: The CFP Board of Managers has decided on a 12-team College Football Playoff during today's meeting.|url=https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1565776097274236928|access-date=2022-09-02|website=Twitter.com|language=en}}

Conferences and bowls negotiated early expansion for several months during the fall of 2022. A potential sticking point was the Rose Bowl, which desired to keep its traditional 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT kickoff on New Year's Day or January 2, even during years it will host the semifinals instead of the quarterfinals. The problem was resolved when the commissioners gave the Rose Bowl an ultimatum to accept no special treatment or be excluded from the new playoffs, with the bowl agreeing to forgo its demands. By the end of 2022, a new 12-team format was approved to be implemented for the 2024 season. Originally, the expanded playoff was to include the top six ranked conference champions and six at-large bids, though it was later changed to five conference champions and seven at-large bids after the 2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment resulted in the Pac-12 Conference dropping to two members.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-11 |title=Sources: CFP set to present 5+7 model to board |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38865936/cfp-committee-present-5+7-model-board |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}

{{quote box

| quote = "Strength of schedule will become such an important factor ... that if you want to be under consideration, you need to have a more meaningful schedule than perhaps you've had in previous years."

| source = —Tom Jernstedt, selection committee member{{cite web|title=The playoff's SOS problem|author=Brad Edwards|work=ESPN.com|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story?id=10157208|date=December 18, 2013|access-date=April 25, 2014}}

| width = 33%

}}

Due to the increased emphasis on strength of schedule, teams have considered playing more challenging opponents during the non-conference portion of their schedules. Some teams have traditionally played three or four "weak" non-conference opponents, but wins against such low-level competition are unlikely to impress the committee. For teams on the cusp of making the playoff four, "I think one of the first things the committee will look at is strength of schedule," said selector Oliver Luck.{{cite news|title=Lure of big game alters NCAA football|author=Stephen J. Nesbitt|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/college/2014/03/11/Lure-of-big-game-alters-NCAA-football/stories/201403110102|date=March 10, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014}}

Teams in the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine conference games on their twelve-game schedules and thus only have flexibility in choosing their opponents for the three non-league games. Some programs are opting to increase their schedule strength by scheduling high-profile matchups at neutral sites and on weeknights, garnering primetime TV exclusivity.{{cite web|title=How Verge Ausberry, LSU approach modern-day football schedules|author=Ross Dellinger|publisher=The Advocate|url=http://theadvocate.com/sports/8799977-128/how-verge-ausberry-lsu-approach|date=April 6, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014|archive-date=April 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426232219/http://theadvocate.com/sports/8799977-128/how-verge-ausberry-lsu-approach|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Doesn't Auburn know Thursday nights are where top-10 teams go to die?|author=Kevin Scarbinsky|publisher=AL.com|url=http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2014/02/moving_the_kansas_state_game_t.html|date=February 3, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014}}

In response to the new playoff system, the Southeastern Conference considered increasing its conference schedule from eight to nine games, with Alabama coach Nick Saban a vocal proponent. According to Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, "The prevailing opinion among SEC athletics directors: The SEC is difficult enough that there's no need for a ninth game." Some in the conference, like Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin, expressed the opinion that a nine-game SEC schedule would result in more teams with two losses. Commissioner Michael Slive and Vanderbilt AD David Williams, among others, supported a stronger out-of-league schedule, which would likely impress the committee.{{cite web|title=Majority of SEC ADs favor 8 league football games, but presidents will help as decision nears|author=Jon Solomon|publisher=AL.com|url=http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/03/majority_of_sec_ads_favor_8_le.html|date=March 7, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014}}{{cite news|title=Will the playoff selection committee influence conference scheduling?|author=Dennis Dodd|work=CBSSports.com|url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24512353/will-the-playoff-selection-committee-influence-conference-scheduling|date=March 3, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014}} In April 2014, the league voted to mandate that all SEC teams must play a Power Five foe (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, or independent Notre Dame) in its non-conference slate beginning in 2016. Slive noted this rule "gives us the added strength-of-schedule we were seeking".{{cite news|title=SEC sticking with 8-game league football schedule|agency=Associated Press|date=April 27, 2014|access-date=April 28, 2014|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/04/27/sec-sticking-with-8-game-league-football-schedule/8321283/}} In 2014, the first year of the College Football Playoff, one team (Georgia) played two opponents from the Power Five, nine of the 14 teams played one Power Five conference opponent and three lower-level opponents (including one FCS school), and four teams did not face a Power Five foe. In the spring of 2015, the SEC decided to count games played against Independents BYU and Army toward its Power Five requirement.

The ACC, whose teams also play eight conference games (plus Notre Dame at least once every three years), also considered moving to a nine-game conference schedule. However, the league opted to stay with the eight-plus-Notre Dame model, stipulating instead that teams would have to play one Power Five school in their non-league slates beginning in 2017, which would include the Notre Dame game or other ACC schools,{{cite web|title=Vote: ACC games as nonconference|author=Andrea Adelson and Brett McMurphy|work=ESPN.com|date=May 14, 2014|access-date=May 20, 2014|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/10930219/some-acc-teams-consider-fulfilling-future-nonconference-obligations-playing-other-acc-teams}} as will games against another FBS independent, BYU.{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/12247690/acc-count-games-byu-cougars-nonleague-power-5-opponent |title=ACC: BYU to count as Power 5 team |first=Brett |last=McMurphy |work=ESPN.com |date=January 29, 2015 |access-date=February 3, 2015}} Despite the push to increase schedule strength, some ACC coaches preferred the scheduling flexibility available with fewer permanent fixtures on a team's slate.{{cite web|title=ACC coaches to discuss 9-game schedule|author=Heather Dinich|work=ESPN.com|date=February 6, 2014|access-date=April 28, 2014|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/67112/acc-coaches-to-discuss-9-game-schedule-today}} Opinion was split among league athletic directors on moving to a nine-game schedule prior to the vote.{{cite web|title=ACC schedule not set; vote looms?|author=Heather Dinich|work=ESPN.com|date=April 29, 2014|access-date=April 30, 2014|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/10855870/acc-schedule-not-set-athletic-directors-split-preferences?ex_cid=espnapi_public}} An SEC expansion to a nine-game schedule would limit the ACC's opportunities to play Power Five non-conference opponents.{{cite news|title=ACC watching SEC's 8- vs. 9-game scheduling decision closely|author=Jeremy Fowler|work=CBSSports.com|date=April 27, 2014|access-date=April 28, 2014|url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jeremy-fowler/24542014/acc-watching-secs-scheduling-decision-closely}}

{{main|List of College Football Playoff games}}

{{For|the list of College Football Playoff New Year's Six Bowl Appearances|New Year's Six}}

{{For|the list of College Football Playoff National Champions|College Football Playoff National Championship}}

In the 4-team era of the College Football Playoff, lasting from 2014 until the 10th tournament in 2023, 32 of the 40 teams selected for the College Football Playoff were undefeated or 1-loss conference champions from one of the Power Conferences. Three 1-loss Power Conference teams were selected without playing in their conference championship game, and three others were selected after losing their respective conference championship games. One undefeated independent team was selected during this era, as well as one undefeated conference champion from a Group of Five conference. No teams with two or more losses were ever selected by the committee to compete in the 4-team playoff.{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2014|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2015|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2016|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2017|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2018|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2019|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2020|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx?year=2021|title=College Football Playoff - Rankings|publisher=Side Arm Sports|accessdate=April 19, 2022}}

{{College Football Playoff performance by team}}

Records reflect conference affiliations at the time each game was played. For example, Oregon played in 2014 as a member of the Pac-12, and in 2024 as a member of the Big Ten.

In 2013, the television broadcast rights to all six CFP bowls and the National Championship were acquired by ESPN through the 2025–26 season.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8660304/espn-televise-college-football-playoff-12-year-deal|title=ESPN to televise college football playoff in 12-year deal|publisher=ESPN|date=April 24, 2013|access-date=April 26, 2013}}{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Jon |date=2024-02-13 |title=Report: ESPN reaches deal to keep CFP through 2032 |url=https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/02/espn-cfp-rights-deal-extension-2032/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=Sports Media Watch |language=en-US}} ESPN then reached 12-year agreements to retain rights to the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl following the dissolution of the Bowl Championship Series.{{cite magazine|title=ESPN Reaches 12-Year College Football Agreement With Orange Bowl|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-15/espn-reaches-12-year-college-football-agreement-with-orange-bowl|magazine=Bloomberg Businessweek|access-date=November 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107120013/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-15/espn-reaches-12-year-college-football-agreement-with-orange-bowl|archive-date=January 7, 2013}} In November of that year, ESPN reached a 12-year deal to broadcast the remaining three bowls, the championship game, as well as shoulder programming such as ranking shows. As a whole, the contract is valued at around $470 million per year, or nearly $5.7 billion for the life of the contract.

On March 19, 2024, ESPN reached a six-year extension, valued at $1.3 billion per year,{{Cite web |date=2024-03-19 |title=CFP, ESPN agree to $7.8B deal through '31-32 |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39766079/college-football-playoff-espn-agree-deal-2031-32 |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}} adding the four new first-round playoff games to their existing rights to the New Year's Six bowls and the National Championship Game.{{cite news|title=ESPN Strikes Deal for College Football Playoff|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324851704578133223970790516|access-date=January 9, 2016|work=The Wall Street Journal}}{{cite news |last1=Jeyarajah |first1=Shehan |title=College Football Playoff to feature select games on TNT Sports in sublicense deal with ESPN through 2028 |url=https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-playoff-to-feature-select-games-on-tnt-sports-in-sublicense-deal-with-espn-through-2028/ |access-date=May 22, 2024 |work=CBS Sports |date=May 22, 2024}} ESPN was also given the right to sublicense a select number of games; in May 2024, TNT Sports signed a five-year sublicensing agreement to broadcast two first-round games per year, and two quarterfinal games per year from 2026–27 to 2028–29.{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Amanda |date=2024-05-22 |title=TNT Sports to Present College Football Playoff Games Through Sublicense with ESPN |url=https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2024/05/tnt-sports-to-present-college-football-playoff-games-through-sublicense-with-espn/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=ESPN Press Room U.S. |language=en-US}} In 2024–25, the other two first-round playoff games were simulcast on ABC.{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Jon |date=2024-06-05 |title=ABC to simulcast pair of first round CFP games this season |url=https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/06/abc-simulcast-first-round-cfp-tnt-games-opposite-nfl/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Sports Media Watch |language=en-US}} In addition, beginning in 2026–27, ESPN will also simulcast the National Championship Game on ABC, marking a return of the game to broadcast television for the first time since 2010.{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Amanda |date=2024-03-19 |title=ESPN and the College Football Playoff Extend Exclusive Media Rights Agreement Through 2031-32 Season |url=https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2024/03/espn-and-the-college-football-playoff-extend-exclusive-media-rights-agreement-through-2031-32-season/ |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=ESPN Press Room U.S. |language=en-US}}

The inaugural College Football Playoff games in January 2015 generated larger ratings than previous BCS games. The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship had an 18.9 Nielsen rating{{cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-college-football-playoff-ratings-20150113-story.html | title=College Football Playoff final sets ratings record for ESPN, cable TV | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=January 13, 2015 | access-date=January 17, 2015}} and was watched by approximately 33.4 million people, the largest broadcast audience of all time on American cable television (non-broadcast), according to AdWeek. That was a 31 percent audience increase over the previous year's championship game and a 22 percent increase over the BCS title game's best rating on cable (a 16.1 rating in 2011).{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-ohio-state-oregon-ratings-20150113-story.html|title=New college football playoff draws larger TV audience for title game|author=Chicago Tribune|date=January 13, 2015|work=chicagotribune.com|access-date=January 15, 2015}} The semifinal games, the 2015 Rose Bowl and 2015 Sugar Bowl, saw 28.16 million and 28.27 million viewers, respectively.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/03/sports/ncaafootball/sugar-bowl-attracts-2827-million-viewers.html | title=Win for ESPN, but Title Game Is the Real Test | newspaper=The New York Times | date=January 2, 2015 | access-date=January 17, 2015}} According to ESPN, these games also set (and briefly held) all-time records for cable TV viewership.{{cite web|title=College Football Playoff National Championship on ESPN Delivers Largest Audience in Cable History; ESPN Streaming Record for non-World Cup Programming|author=Derek Volner|publisher=ESPN Media Zone|date=January 13, 2015|access-date=January 17, 2015|url=http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2015/01/college-football-playoff-national-championship-espn/}}{{cite web|title=College Football Championship Sets A New Cable Ratings Record|author=Bill Chappell|publisher=NPR|date=January 13, 2015|access-date=January 17, 2015|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/13/377060626/college-football-championship-sets-a-new-cable-ratings-record}}

In 2015, the ratings for the two semifinal games were down from the prior season's equivalents, with the Orange Bowl reaching a 9.7 rating (in comparison to 15.5 for the 2015 Rose Bowl) and the Cotton Bowl reaching a 9.9 rating (in comparison to a 15.3 rating for the 2015 Sugar Bowl). On the online WatchESPN streaming service, excluding 2014 FIFA World Cup games, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl drew the second and third-largest streaming audiences in the service's history, behind the 2015 national championship. The ratings drops were attributed to the New Year's Eve time slot, as fewer people were at home to watch the game.{{cite magazine|title=College Football Playoff TV ratings drop with New Year's Eve time slots|url=https://www.si.com/college-football/2016/01/01/college-football-playoff-bowl-game-tv-ratings|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=January 2016 |access-date=January 1, 2016}} The decline in ratings was a factor in changes for the scheduling of future CFP semi-final games.

In 2012, ESPN reportedly agreed to pay about $7.3 billion over 12 years for broadcasting rights to all seven games, an average of about $608 million per year. That includes $215 million per year which was already committed to the Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls,{{cite web|title=ESPN homes in on 12-year BCS package|author=John Ourand and Michael Smith|publisher=Sports Business Daily|date=November 9, 2012|access-date=July 24, 2013|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Special-Content/News/2012/BCS-ESPN.aspx}} plus $470–475 million annually for the rest of the package.{{cite news|title=ESPN reaches 12-year deal to air college football playoffs|author=Jerry Hinnen|work=CBSSports.com|date=November 21, 2012|access-date=August 11, 2013|url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/21083689/espn-reaches-12year-deal-to-air-college-football-playoffs}} By comparison, the most recent contract with the BCS and the Rose Bowl had paid approximately $155 million per year for five games.{{cite magazine|title=A BCS Playoff TV Contract Will Be Worth More Than $1 Billion|author=Chrise Smith|magazine=Forbes|date=April 27, 2012|access-date=September 18, 2017|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/04/27/a-bcs-playoff-tv-contract-will-be-worth-more-than-1-billion}}

The average revenue to the new system over 12 years is to be about $500 million per year. After $125–150 million in expenses, the Power Five conferences split about 71.5 percent of the remaining money, for an approximate average payout of $250 million a year ($50 million per league) over the life of the contract. The "Group of Five" conferences split 27 percent, about $90 million a year ($18 million per league). Notre Dame receives around one percent, about $3.5-4 million, and other FBS independents get about 0.5 percent of the deal.{{cite news|title=College football playoff revenue distribution set|author=George Schroeder|newspaper=USA Today|date=December 12, 2012|access-date=April 26, 2014|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bowls/2012/12/11/college-football-bcs-playoff-revenue-money-distribution-payouts/1762709/}}

Extra revenue goes to conferences in contracts with the Rose, Sugar, and Orange bowls, which split revenue 50/50 between their participating leagues. In non-semifinal years, the Rose Bowl's TV revenue would be divided between the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences; likewise, the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl revenue to its participant conferences. When those bowls are semifinal games, the money is distributed by the playoff system to all FBS conferences. ESPN has paid about $80 million a year each for the Rose and Sugar bowls over 12 years. The Orange Bowl deal is worth $55 million per year.{{cite web|title=ESPN focuses on BCS, Big East media rights|author=Michael Smith & John Ourand|publisher=Sports Business Daily|date=October 15, 2012|access-date=August 11, 2013|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/10/15/Media/ESPN-BCS.aspx}} For example, in a non-semifinal year, the Big Ten could receive about $90 million (half of its $80 million Rose Bowl deal plus about $50 million from the playoff system).

Conferences receive an additional $6 million each year for each team it places in the semifinals and $4 million for a team in one of the three at-large bowls; Notre Dame receives the same amount in either scenario. No additional money is awarded for reaching the championship game.

The Power Five conferences and the "Group of Five" have not decided on their respective revenue-sharing formulas, though the SEC initially receives more revenue than the other four Power Five conferences due to its BCS success. Reports say the money is to be divided based on several criteria such as "on-field success, teams' expenses, marketplace factors and academic performance of student-athletes".{{cite web|title=Playoff approved, questions remain|author=Mark Schlabach|work=ESPN.com|date=June 26, 2012|access-date=August 10, 2013|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8099725/college-football-playoff-approved-questions-remain}} The playoff system awards academic performance bonuses of $300,000 per school for meeting the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate standard of 930. In a hypothetical 14-team conference, $4.2 million ($300,000 x 14) would be allocated to that league, and if only 12 of the 14 members meet the APR standard, then each of the 12 schools would receive $350,000 ($4.2 million / 12),{{cite web|title=Big earnings for power conferences|author=Brett McMurphy|work=ESPN.com|date=December 11, 2012|access-date=April 26, 2014|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8736544/sec-big-ten-big-12-pac-12-acc-average-91-million-new-playoff-format-sources-say}} penalizing schools that fall below the threshold.{{cite news|title=College football playoff to have 6 games, not 7|author=Ralph D. Russo|agency=Associated Press|date=November 12, 2012|access-date=August 10, 2013|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/college-football-playoff-have-6-games-not-7|archive-date=April 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416101746/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/college-football-playoff-have-6-games-not-7|url-status=dead}}

File:2024-0108-Bill Hancock.jpg

BCS Properties, LLC holds all properties related to the College Football Playoff.{{cite web|url=http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/23/college-footballs-new-playoff-will-be-called-college-football-playoff/|title=College football's new playoff will be called… 'College Football Playoff'|first=Ben|last=Kercheval|date=April 23, 2013}} Previous BCS commissioner Bill Hancock is the executive director of the playoff organization,{{cite news|title=As College Football Playoff nears, Bill Hancock readies for change|author=Vahe Gregorian|newspaper=Kansas City Star|date=July 1, 2013|access-date=July 24, 2013|url=http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/01/4325032/as-college-football-playoff-nears.html}} with former SEC Assistant Commissioner for Championships Byron Hatch as COO.{{Cite web |title=College Football Playoff Names Byron Hatch Chief Operating Officer |url=https://collegefootballplayoff.com/news/2021/12/20/hatch-coo.aspx |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=College Football Playoff |language=en}} Like the BCS, the playoff system's management committee{{cite news|title=College Football Playoff crazy to forgo committee 'dry run' in 2013|author=Stewart Mandel|publisher=SI.com|date=June 20, 2013|access-date=July 30, 2013|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130620/playoff-selection-committee-dry-run/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625031431/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130620/playoff-selection-committee-dry-run/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 25, 2013}} consists of the conference commissioners from the 10 FBS conferences{{cite news|title=Flawed BCS replaced with better, if imperfect College Football Playoff|author=Stewart Mandel|publisher=SI.com|date=April 23, 2013|access-date=July 30, 2013|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130423/college-football-playoff-replaces-bcs/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130730114750/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130423/college-football-playoff-replaces-bcs/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 30, 2013}} and Notre Dame's athletic director.{{cite news|title=College Football Playoff brass one step closer to establishing selection committee|author=Pat Forde|work=Yahoo Sports|date=June 18, 2013|access-date=July 30, 2013|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--college-football-playoff-brass-one-step-closer-to-establishing-committee-011130457.html#more-id}} The playoff system's headquarters is in Irving, Texas.

According to the CFP website, the system's operations are controlled by the Board of Managers, which consists of presidents and chancellors of the playoff group's member universities. The eleven members have sole authority to develop, review and approve annual budgets, policies and operating guidelines. The group also selects the company's officers.{{cite web|title=Governane|publisher=College Football Playoff|access-date=July 7, 2015|url=http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/governance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708121100/http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/governance|archive-date=July 8, 2015|url-status=dead}}

• Eric Barron – President, Penn State (Big Ten)
• Rodney Bennett – President, Southern Miss (C-USA)
• Joe Castro – Chancellor, California State University; former president, Fresno State (Mountain West)
• Gordon Gee – President, West Virginia (Big 12)
• Jack Hawkins – Chancellor, Troy (Sun Belt)
• Rev. John I. Jenkins – President, Notre Dame (Independent)
• Mark Keenum – President, Mississippi State (SEC)
• Kirk Schulz – President, Washington State (Pac-12)
• John Thrasher – President, Florida State (ACC)
• Satish Tripathi – President, Buffalo (MAC)
• R. Gerald Turner – President, SMU (The American)

According to the CFP website, the Athletics Directors Advisory Group is appointed by the management committee to "offer counsel" on the operations of the system. As an advisory board, it has no authority in the management of the CFP.

• Gary Barta, Iowa (Big Ten)
• Tom Bowen, Memphis (The American)
• Tom Burman, Wyoming (Mountain West)
• Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma (Big 12)
• Jeremy Foley, Florida (SEC)
• Dan Guerrero, UCLA (Pac-12)
• Chris Massaro, Middle Tennessee (C-USA)
• Terry Mohajir, UCF (The American)
• Mike O'Brien, Toledo (MAC)
• Stan Wilcox, Florida State (ACC)

Although being generally well received, the College Football Playoff has been criticized much like its predecessor, the Bowl Championship Series, which had several controversies.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2015/10/10/college-football-playoff-mock-selection-alabama-lsu-baylor-tcu/73679798/|title=Lessons of 2011 may still apply to College Football Playoff process|date=October 10, 2015|work=USA TODAY|access-date=December 10, 2015}}

During the four-team playoff era, at least one Power Five champion was left out of the playoffs every season. However, not all teams selected in the four-team playoff were conference winners:

• In 2016, Ohio State (11–1) – who did not qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game – was selected by the committee. Both the Big Ten champions Penn State (11–2) and Big 12 champions Oklahoma (10–2) had worse records; Penn State had advanced to the conference championship game over Ohio State by virtue of a close victory earlier in the season; Oklahoma lost at home to Ohio State early in the season;
• In 2017, Alabama (11–1) – who did not qualify for the SEC Championship Game due to a final-week loss against SEC runner-up Auburn – was selected ahead of the Big Ten's Ohio State (11–2) and Pac-12's USC (11–2);
• In 2021, Georgia (12–1) lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama (12–1) but was selected over three Power Five conference champions with multiple losses;
• In 2022, TCU (12–1) was selected for the playoff despite losing the Big 12 Championship Game to Kansas State (10–3) in overtime. Ohio State (11–1) – who once again missed the Big Ten Championship Game due to a Week 12 loss to eventual Big Ten champion Michigan – was also selected, ahead of the ACC's Clemson (11–2) and Pac-12's Utah (10–3).

Some analysts discussed whether the committee should have selected conference champions only.[https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/12/03/alabama-ohio-state-playoff-rankings-format-rules Will the Alabama Outrage Spur More Changes to College Football's Format?] - Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated, December 3, 2017[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/03/sports/college-football-playoff.html College Football Playoff: Alabama Is In, Ohio State Is Out] - Marc Tracy, Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2017

Another critique centered around a perceived bias against smaller conferences such as the Big 12 which used to not stage a conference championship game, but reintroduced one for the 2017 season. The American Athletic Conference addressed this issue by enlisting Navy to its ranks for 2015, bringing its membership to 12 teams, which allowed it to stage a conference championship game under then-current NCAA rules.{{cite news|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_27087504/college-football-controversy-reigns-ever-over-playoff-selections|title=College football: Controversy reigns, as ever, over playoff selections|author=Jon Wilner|date=December 7, 2014|newspaper=The Mercury News|access-date=December 10, 2015}} Since the 2016 season, FBS conferences have been allowed to stage football championship games even if they do not have 12 members.{{cite press release|url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2016-01-13/college-football-fbs-conferences-fewer-12-members-now-able-hold |title=College football: FBS conferences with fewer than 12 members now able to hold championship game |publisher=NCAA |date=January 13, 2016 |access-date=January 19, 2016}}

There are opinions{{By whom|date=December 2023}} labeling the CFP system "just as" or "even more polarizing" than the BCS or the old wire-service poll system.{{cite web|url=http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/gallery/college-football-playoff-standings-top-25-rankings-poll-odds-michigan-ohio-state-111516|title=8 teams the College Football Playoff committee got totally wrong - FOX Sports}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thepostgame.com/college-football-playoff-committee-washington-texas-am|title=Is College Football Playoff Committee Losing Its Legitimacy?|date=November 7, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20141206/the-college-football-playoff-has-become-more-controversial-than-the-bcs|title=The College Football Playoff has become more controversial than the BCS| website=Los Angeles Daily News | date=December 7, 2014 |access-date=December 10, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.foxsports.com/watch/the-herd-with-colin-cowherd/video/joel-klatt-the-college-football-playoff-committee-is-a-joke-the-herd-110916|title=Joel Klatt: The College Football Playoff Committee is a joke - THE HERD - FOX Sports}} However, most in sports media{{Who|date=December 2023}} believe the College Football Playoff Committee got the right foursome for the 2017–18 playoff, for example, for advancing Alabama, a one-loss team excluded from its conference championship on a tiebreaker, instead of Ohio State, a two-loss conference champion.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-greenstein-college-football-playoff-20171203-story.html|title=Column: 'Bama in, Buckeyes out? CFP selection committee got it right - Chicago Tribune| website=Chicago Tribune |date=December 3, 2017 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21654631/why-college-football-playoff-selection-committee-gave-alabama-crimson-tide-nod-ohio-state-buckeyes|title=Why the selection committee got it right - ESPN.com| date=December 3, 2017 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2017/12/04/college-football-playoff-selection-committee-got-it-right-with-alabama/|title=College Football Playoff selection committee got it right with Alabama - Washington Post| newspaper=The Washington Post }}

In 2019, Urban Meyer, head coach of the national champion 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, said that he intentionally ran up the score against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game to help his team be chosen for the playoff. Criticizing the subjectivity of the selection process, Meyer said that he left the starting lineup in the game despite Ohio State being ahead 45–0 in the third quarter—not resting the starters and risking their health, and poor sportsmanship—because "I don't think the 'eye test' and 'people think' is going to get enough to bump TCU and Baylor". He continued, "I had a job to do, and that was to get Ohio State in the playoff. Do I think that's right? That's wrong", proposing a selection system based on defined criteria.{{Cite tweet |number=1186009943897456640 |user=CFBONFOX |author=FOX College Football |title="When I hear someone say, 'look test' or 'I think,' that's not fair." @CoachUrbanMeyer addresses the CFP's selection criteria and breaks down how he would change the system. |date=2019-10-20}}

Late in the 2020 season, which was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde was strongly critical of the CFP committee for what he considered unfair treatment of teams outside the Power Five; he note that the Big 12's Iowa State, at 8–2, were ranked No. 7, one spot ahead of the top Group of Five team, the AAC's then-unbeaten Cincinnati, and twelve spots ahead of the Sun Belt's Louisiana, a team who had beaten Iowa State by 17 points and whose only loss to that point had been in a conference game against unbeaten Coastal Carolina.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/college/2020/12/09/college-football-playoff-committee-rankings-debate |title=The Selection Committee Makes It Clear: There's Never Room for a Non–Power 5 Team in the Playoff |first=Pat |last=Forde |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=December 9, 2020 |access-date=December 10, 2020}} Michael Aresco, commissioner of Cincinnati's American Athletic Conference, had equally pointed criticism, accusing the committee of "undermining its credibility with rankings that defy logic and common sense and fairness," and said that he would much prefer the computer-calculated BCS rankings system."{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30534280/aac-commissioner-says-deck-stacked-group-5-college-football-teams |title=AAC commissioner says 'deck is stacked' against Group of 5 college football teams

|first=Mark |last=Schlabach |website=ESPN.com |date=December 16, 2020 |access-date=December 16, 2020}} No Group of Five team was ranked in the CFP top four until Cincinnati was fourth in the rankings released on November 23, 2021.{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32701446/unbeaten-cincinnati-joins-georgia-ohio-state-alabama-cfp-coveted-top-four-oregon-slips |title=Unbeaten Cincinnati joins Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama in CFP's coveted top four as Oregon slips |first=Mark |last=Schlabach |website=ESPN.com |date=November 23, 2021 |accessdate=November 24, 2021}}

The 2023 season saw the tightest playoff race in history, with eight teams in plausible contention before the conference championship weekend. The eventual selection of the one-loss conference champions Alabama (SEC) and Texas (Big 12) was controversial as both teams were selected ahead of unbeaten ACC champion Florida State; prior to 2023, no undefeated Power Five champion had failed to be selected for the playoff. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips called the decision "unfathomable" due to the significance the committee had previously afforded to undefeated conference champions, and Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said he was "disgusted and infuriated" at the decision.{{Cite web |last=Winborne |first=Jeffery |date=2023-12-03 |title='It's unfathomable': ACC Commissioner, Florida State head coach dismayed by Seminoles' playoff exclusion |url=https://www.wbrc.com/2023/12/03/its-unfathomable-acc-commissioner-dismayed-by-florida-states-playoff-exclusion/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=www.wbrc.com |language=en}} CFP committee chair Boo Corrigan cited the late-season injury of Florida State's quarterback Jordan Travis as a reason to rank both Alabama and Texas over Florida State.{{Cite web |title=College Football Playoff picked Alabama over Florida State for final spot. Why? |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2023/12/03/alabama-college-football-playoff-florida-state-why/71792520007/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}

The qualifications of selection committee members have also been scrutinized. As an outsider to the sports world, Condoleezza Rice's selection was the focus of some criticism. Former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden expressed the opinion that the committee's members should be "people who played the game and preferably coached the game".{{cite web|url=https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/10/27/7080207/tommy-bowden-condoleezza-rice-college-football-playoff-committee|title=Tommy Bowden does not think Condoleezza Rice should be on the College Football Playoff committee|author=Kevin Trahan|date=October 27, 2014|publisher=Vox Media|work=SBNation.com|access-date=December 10, 2015}} Former Auburn head coach Pat Dye said, "All she knows about football is what somebody told her ... or what she read in a book, or what she saw on television. To understand football, you've got to play with your hand in the dirt". Former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese also gained membership on the selection committee despite having never played football in college.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/people-dont-want-condoleezza-rice-on-college-footballs-playoff-selection-committee-2013-10|title=People Don't Want Condoleezza Rice On College Football's Playoff Selection Committee - Business Insider|author=Cork Gaines|date=October 8, 2013|work=Business Insider|access-date=December 10, 2015}} Former sportswriter Steve Weiberg and retired U.S. Air Force General Michael Gould are other committee members without significant football playing, coaching, or administrative experience.

The semifinal games for the 2015 season were scheduled for December 31; they were expected to have lower television viewership because the date is not a federal holiday, and because the second game faced heavy competition for television viewers in primetime from New Year's Eve specials (such as New Year's Rockin' Eve, which is aired by ESPN's sister broadcast network ABC). Under television contracts with ESPN that predate the College Football Playoff, both the Rose and Sugar Bowl games are guaranteed exclusive TV time slots on January 1 (or January 2 if New Year's Day falls on a Sunday), regardless of whether they are hosting a semifinal game.{{cite web | url=https://www.si.com/college-football/2015/01/12/college-football-playoff-tradition-new-years-eve-2015 | title=College Football Playoff drops ball with 2015 New Year's Eve semis | work=SI.com | date=January 12, 2015 | access-date=January 17, 2015}} In an interview with CBS Sports, CFP commissioner Bill Hancock suggested this scheduling issue would "change the paradigm of what New Year's Eve is all about," opining that "if you're hosting a New Year's Eve party, you better have a bunch of televisions around".{{cite web|title=Before BCS ends, the whens, wheres, whys of College Football Playoff|author=Tony Barnhart|work=CBSSports.com|date=January 6, 2014|access-date=January 17, 2015|url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/tony-barnhart/24400200/before-bcs-ends-the-whens-wheres-and-whys-of-college-football-playoff}} Although ESPN proposed moving the Thursday, December 31, 2015, semifinal games to Saturday, January 2, 2016, the idea was rejected.{{cite web|title=A daunting task: Can the CFP, ESPN change old New Year's Eve habits?|author=Richard Deitsch|work=SI.com|date=July 2, 2015|access-date=July 6, 2015|url=https://www.si.com/college-football/2015/07/02/college-football-playoff-semifinals-new-years-eve}} The semifinal games' ratings were ultimately down significantly from those of the previous season.

In an effort to reduce the impact of their New Year's Eve scheduling, the 2016 semifinal games, which fell on a Saturday, had earlier kickoff times, at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. ET respectively. The 2016 Orange Bowl was played in primetime on December 30, 2016, rather than in an early afternoon window on New Year's Eve. Hancock considered the earlier start times to be a compromise to reduce the games' intrusion into New Year's Eve festivities, but reiterated that there were no plans to move the semi-final games from New Year's Eve outside of years where they are hosted by the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.{{cite news|title=Orange Bowl game is shifted to prime time on Dec. 30|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/college/orange-bowl/article64597132.html|access-date=March 9, 2016|work=Miami Herald}}{{cite web|title=The 2017 College Football Playoff will still be on New Year's Eve, but it'll start earlier|url=https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/3/7/11173288/playoff-game-kickoff-times-new-years-eve-2017|website=SB Nation| date=March 7, 2016 |access-date=March 9, 2016}}

On July 28, 2016, however, Hancock reversed this stance and announced revisions to the scheduling for future College Football Playoff semi-final games. The games were rescheduled so that they will not necessarily be played on New Year's Eve yearly: outside of years when they are hosted by the Rose and Sugar Bowls (where they retain their traditional New Year's Day scheduling), they will now be scheduled primarily on the last Saturday or federally observed holiday of the year. In some years, this date will land on New Year's Eve. In 2021, the games were played on Friday, December 31, because the day was observed as a holiday.{{cite web|title=College Football Playoff tweaks dates in upcoming seasons|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17163763/college-football-playoff-moves-some-new-year-eve-dates|website=ESPN.com| date=July 28, 2016 |access-date=July 28, 2016}}{{cite web|title=College Football Playoff semis will only be on Saturdays or holidays|url=https://www.si.com/college-football/2016/07/28/college-football-playoff-semifinals-schedule-saturdays-holidays|website=SI.com|date=July 28, 2016 |access-date=July 28, 2016}} Viewership of the 2018 semi-finals were down by 25% over the previous semi-finals, which were played on New Year's Day.{{Cite web|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/college-football-playoff-ratings-down-25-percent-scheduling-new-years-day.html|title=College Football Playoff semifinal ratings down 25 percent year-over-year|date=December 31, 2018|website=Awful Announcing|language=en-US|access-date=January 5, 2019}}

During the first season of the 12-team format, three of the first-round games were scheduled on Saturday, December 21, 2024, when the National Football League (NFL) traditionally holds late December Saturday games. As part of the NFL's antitrust exemption under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, the league is only restricted from playing Saturday games from the second Saturday in September to the second Saturday in December to avoid competing with college football's regular season. With no such antitrust restriction in place to avoid conflicting with college football's postseason, NFL officials met with CFP officials and conference commissioners to suggest that they hold weeknight doubleheaders instead. Rejecting the NFL's suggestion, a CFP tripleheader was scheduled anyway, with the first two games going head-to-head with an NFL doubleheader.{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.com/nfl/nfl-vs-cfp-how-epic-saturday-slate-turned-from-collaboration-to-competition|title=NFL vs. CFP: How Football's Epic Saturday Slate Turned From Collaboration to Competition|website=SI.com|language=en-US|date=December 20, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/columnist/dan-wolken/2024/12/18/college-football-playoff-tv-ratings-nfl-saturday/77057879007/|title=College Football Playoff set for ratings war with NFL and the fallout could shape future schedule|website=USA Today|language=en-US|date=December 18, 2024}} The NFL games, which aired on network TV, drew a larger audience over the CFP games, which aired on cable.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/college-football-playoff-ratings-63fc41a9afef093c916073d1c2aa0f31|title=Saturday NFL draws larger audience than college games for rollout of 12-team playoff|website=Associated Press|language=en-US|date=December 25, 2024}}

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• List of college bowl games

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{{cite web |url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2023-12-03/how-12-team-college-football-playoff-will-work-teams-schedule-bids |title=How the 12-team College Football Playoff will work: Teams, schedule, bids |last=Ellison |first=Maya |date=December 3, 2023 |website=NCAA.com |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |access-date=January 11, 2024}}

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