The first season of expanding the College Football Playoff has come to an end with Ohio State University taking the National Championship home. The newly established 12-team playoff was something to get used to after 10 years of a 4-team playoff, with some people complaining about the system’s efficiency. 

As the playoffs began in the 2024-2025 college football season, there were several differences in this season from years past.

College football has a long history dating back to 1869, but there was no champion until 1936 when the Associated Press released their rankings. These rankings determined the top 20 college football teams and helped decide a champion. 

Following that, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), was created in 1998. The BCS made the top 10 teams face off in different bowls games ending in No.1 and No. 2 playing each other, deciding a champion. 

In 2014, the College Football Playoffs began with more fine-tuning throughout the league.

The 4-team College Football Playoff consisted of the four best teams that were chosen by The College Football Playoff selection committee. Their goal each season was to choose the best Division 1 teams for the three playoff games: two semi-final games and the national championship. 

GCSU students expressed their opinions on the past playoff systems 

“I think the committee had too much of a say in the 4-team,” said Abigail Lee, a junior psychology major

Many agreed with Lee over the 10 years of the 4-team playoff, which led to the system being changed once again.

The 2024-2025 college football season started the very first 12-team playoff. The playoff season started with Oregon at No.1, Georgia at No.2, Boise State at No.3, and Arizona State at No.4. These four teams received a bye due to being in the top four ranked by the playoff committee. 

A bye is when a team is automatically advanced to the next round of a tournament without playing an opponent to get there. Byes were put in place to help the top four teams so they don’t have a chance to get knocked out of the tournament. 

Many people over the years of not only football but all sports have argued over the “Rest vs. Rust” debate. This debate asks if the players receive rest from their bye week/s or if they become rusty and are not able to live up to the task. 

In this past season, the top four teams lost their first playoff game. Many argued that this was due to the rust built up from their byes. 

Students at GCSU were asked what they think of the top four teams losing with junior Jacob Cooper, a business management major, giving his input. 

“I think it’s just a fluke,” Cooper said. “But I do think that the byes have a lot to do with it.”

“There’s such a long gap,” said Cooper. “Notre Dame had a tune-up game against Indiana and then played Georgia, so they were pretty fresh. So I think that has a lot to do with it, but not every time, conference champions have to win at one point.”

The “Rest vs. Rust” debate was not the only argument within the college football community this past season. Many football fans were shocked at the fact that Alabama did not make it into the playoff bracket. 

“I think it was totally fair that they didn’t make it,” Lee said. “They lost to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, I think the only people that were surprised were Bama fans.”

With the decision of who makes it into those 12 teams relying less on the selection committee this season, many college football fans rejoiced. Some believed that the committee was biased, favoring the SEC conference in the 4-team playoff every year. 

After several playoff games were played this season, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl decided who would be playing in the National Championship. Ohio State beat Texas 28-14 while Notre Dame played a closer game against Penn State that ended in Notre Dame winning 27-24. 

The National Championship was held on Monday, Jan. 20 with Ohio State pulling out the win over Notre Dame, ending in a score of 34-23. Some football fans argue that the SEC and the Big 10 conferences have too large an advantage and they will always take home the trophy. 

The 2024-2025 college football season began with the first 12-team playoff and ended with an Ohio State championship. While many say they love the new system, they still argue there should be tweaks made for a more seamless playoff season.

“I think it was just a rough year,” Cooper said. “A rough prototype for it, but it’ll get better.”

The College Football Playoff committee has yet to make changes but has not ruled it out for the 2025-2026 season