New Era, New Chaos? New CFP Team Rankings Explained

The College Football Playoff will reveal its first team rankings of the expanded 12-team era Tuesday night, and chaos may not be far behind. 

Many fans could be confused—at least initially—by the intricate new system, which includes crucial new revenue opportunities for schools that reach the postseason bracket.

The New Format

Just like in previous years, the CFP selection committee will reveal its top 25 teams each Tuesday throughout the remainder of the season, culminating with the first 12-team Playoff bracket to be revealed on Dec. 8. But things won’t be as simple as just looking at the top 12 teams and moving on.

At the end of the season, the 12 participating CFP teams will be the five conference champions (in all likelihood the Power 4 champions and one Group of 5 champion) ranked highest, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions will get first-round byes, even if one or multiple non-conference champions are ranked above them. That means multiple teams inside the top 12 could be left out of the CFP. There will be no re-seeding after the first round (the No. 1 seed will play the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup, etc.).

A Hidden Advantage?

Teams seeded fifth through eighth will host first-round Playoff games on campus in December. But the CFP will collect all revenue from ticket sales and redistribute it to the conferences, according to The Athletic. However, schools will get to keep the money made from other game-day revenue sources like concessions and parking. 

Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli previously told Front Office Sports that he would like to see all CFP matchups played at neutral-site bowl games, which will be the case from the quarterfinals on. The quarterfinals will be played in the Fiesta, Peach, Rose, and Sugar bowls.

Dollars and Cents

While debates will no doubt ensue about the best 12 teams on the field, there will be major financial implications off the field:

• Conferences will receive $4 million for each school that makes the CFP and for each school that qualifies for the quarterfinal. That’s an $8 million guarantee for the conferences with schools receiving first-round byes.
• Conferences will receive another $6 million for each school that reaches the semifinals and each school that plays in the national championship game.

In total, that’s $116 million distributed to conferences with teams in the CFP. Teams also get $3 million to cover expenses for each round.