This entire 12-team bracket thing has given rise to more confusion instead of providing any proper solution. See, this entire thing was started so that all teams get an equal shot at making it into the playoffs. Last year, we saw a disaster happen with FSU. The Seminoles lost their QB1 Jordan Travis to a very ugly injury, and this subsequently led to their snub from the 4-team bracket despite being undefeated the entire season. Now, the committee did clarify that this decision was taken purely based on the team’s performance without their star player. However, many FSU fans were not happy with the decision. Now had they implemented the 12-team bracket back then, FSU would’ve gotten a fair shot to fight for the natty.

Now, just on the surface level, all of this might sound pretty good, but it ain’t all fun and games after all. Back on Always College Football, Ducks HC Dan Lanning calls out this entire move. “Championship game is in the middle of January, and school’s already started, and newcomers have moved in. I just don’t think any of it lines up with our map. In my mind, the championship game would be unbelievable if that was on the first, right? December or January 1st,” Lanning pointed out. You got your first round of games from December 20th till 21st and from there, you get the Bowl games from December 31st to January 1st.

These are the playoff and semi-finals sorted. Now the quarter-finals will start from January 9th and will end on the 10th. But hey, it ain’t over. The final natty will be at the Mercedes-Benz stadium on January 20th. This is quite a long road for a lot of teams, but it has its rewards. The committee has set aside around $116 million for conferences. This money is going to be distributed based on which teams qualify for the playoffs and the future rounds.

While what Lanning points out regarding the school starting off and the recruitment season ending and all, it might feel like he is making a fair point. But then you also have to keep in mind that each team needs their rest. You don’t want the first-round winners to instantly go in and face the top-seeded team, right?

They need that break in between. The same goes for the final 2 teams that crack it into the natty. More prep time = A better game. Simple logic. The Ducks have their bye week, so Lanning gets tons of time to focus on his game against the winner of the OSU and Vols showdown. But then, when talking about this entire 12-team bracket, another important thing to keep in mind is that all of this could change again in 2026.

More chaos in college football?

Now this might sound like a wild theory, but there is a big chance the entire 12-team bracket is going to be expanded. This will sound bittersweet, but a lot of teams couldn’t crack it into the playoffs this year. See, every season, the SEC dominates. Big names like Bama, Bulldogs, Ole Miss, etc. walk all over their schedule.

This year? Yeah, no Alabama, Ole Miss, or South Carolina. Yes, you can blame the teams for their 3 losses, but keep in mind, the SEC brings in money. We have already seen the bias happening when Alabama got put on the 11th seed on the penultimate CFP rankings list. Wild scenario because how could a 3-loss team without a conference title ticket even crack that spot?

“The commissioners are going to look at it … In the end, they’re going to look at whether 14 is a better number,” was something Rich Clark, CFP executive director, pointed out back on Tuesday while talking about the bracket. Looks like your favorite team has a higher chance of ranking on the list. Provided they don’t lose to a washed-up 5-loss team.

If we are to go off of what Lanning pointed out, then next year, we gonna end up watching college football till the middle of 2026. They trying to turn this into a whole different sport at this point.