Who would have made a 24-team field in the College Football Playoff era? Try 80 different teams

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/72...1.kFA.JIxy._j-86B_LWVDt&smid=ta-android-share

If the College Football Playoff started with 24 teams when it began in 2014, 80 different schools would have qualified over the last 12 years, Big Ten deputy commissioner Kerry Kenny told reporters Tuesday.

We checked his work: He’s right.

There’s momentum for the Playoff to expand to 24 teams, with all power conferences but the SEC having publicly endorsed it. If the sport’s leadership agrees on 24, the field will have expanded 500 percent from 2023 to 2027.

But what does that mean? What does a new college football where 24 teams compete for a national title look like?

We crunched the numbers on what a 24-team field — made with the top 23 teams and the highest Group of 5 program, as one of the proposals outlines — would look like.

If college football’s biggest stage continues to grow, CFP success will further define how that season is remembered. But this is good news if you’re a fan of USC or Utah or NC State. If you’re a fan of the blue bloods, perhaps less so.

Let’s break it down.

Pretty depressing we would've only made it in 2019.

The 2021 and 2022 teams would've been damn close, save for a couple of inexplicable losses

14 Big Ten teams
No Purdue, Rutgers, Nebraska, Maryland

I know Northwestern has been solid and had some decent teams but still kind of jarring to see they would have made the field 4 times while Minnesota and Illinois each would have only made it once.

I doubt many casual fans would guess Northwestern if you asked which of those 3 teams would have had 4 CFP appearances during that stretch. Assume most would say Illinois and we would probably get the second most guesses.

I know if that question was posed to me before I saw the list I would have guessed Illinois.

The great thing is that every year EVERY team in the P4 starts out with an opportunity to play for the national championship, regardless of how big or small the playoff is. Just win and you're in!

Zeppelin Gopher said:

Pretty depressing we would've only made it in 2019.

The 2021 and 2022 teams would've been damn close, save for a couple of inexplicable losses

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Yes but you also have to consider that all the rankings would be different with different playoff sizes too.
The committee does thinks arbitrarily at the bottom of the rankings to fit how they want the top to go.

Not saying gophers would have more, but saying the committee would be the same simply isn’t true.

Some guy said:

Yes but you also have to consider that all the rankings would be different with different playoff sizes too.
The committee does thinks arbitrarily at the bottom of the rankings to fit how they want the top to go.

Not saying gophers would have more, but saying the committee would be the same simply isn’t true.

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Well yes clearly, it's a hypothetical exercise after all

Are they actually saying that it would simply be the top 23 ranked teams plus one guaranteed spot for the highest ranked G5 (which I feel like would almost always be ranked top 24 anyway)?