Now that the conference championships are over it is time for the playoffs to start. There were 12 teams that made the playoffs and 4 of them received bye weeks meaning they get to play the winner of the first round. How they determine who makes the playoffs is by a committee of 12 people. They started using the 12 team playoff format last year so that they could maximize the amount of games and teams that will play for the National Championship. This is more exciting than the four team format because now the playoffs last longer and there is a wider variety of teams that you can watch play. Teams that you usually don’t think would make the playoffs have a better chance of making it.
The 12 teams that are playing in the 2025 playoffs are Oregon vs. JMU at Oregon, Alabama vs. Oklahoma at Oklahoma, Tulane vs. Ole Miss at Ole Miss, and Miami vs. Texas A.M. at Texas A.M.. Texas Tech will play the winner of Oregon and JMU at home, Indiana will play the winner of Alabama and Oklahoma at home, Georgia will play the winner of Tulane and Ole Miss at home, and Ohio State will play the winner of Miami and Texas A.M. at home. The games are being played at the higher seeded teams home stadium.
There was some controversy about who made the playoffs this year. This was between Notre Dame and Miami, many fans believed that one or both teams were deserving of a playoff spot. Notre Dame had a good record and some good wins but the argument was that their schedule wasn’t strong enough compared to other teams that made it. Miami played a stronger schedule and won against better teams which Notre Dame didn’t. This debate once again raised the question about how much strength of schedule and conference championships should matter in the playoff selections.
In conclusion, the 2025 College Football Playoffs shows how much the format has changed. Now that more teams are included, fans get more opportunities to see big moments in the sport. This also makes the teams prove that they should have been picked for the playoffs. However, the controversy between Notre Dame and Miami proves that debates for having a strong schedule and conference play are pretty far from over. Now that the playoffs are about to start, the results on the field will decide whether the committee made the correct decisions.
