It’s a new era in college football. There is a 12-team playoff and mega conferences with 16 and 18 teams. That creates entirely new dynamics for the sport and this season. We don’t know for sure what’s in store amidst all that drama, but it certainly makes things interesting. Here are five bold predictions for the college football season.
Only SEC, B1G will have at-large College Football Playoff teams
Remember, there are seven at-large bids to the CFP. This starts with the premise that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will miss the playoffs, and yes they will. The ACC, Big 12 and Group of Five will each get just one automatic bid. Everybody else will come from the two power conferences in the sport, the SEC and the Big Ten.
Five SEC teams will make College Football Playoff
Despite more Big Ten teams, the SEC will have five make the CFP while the Big Ten has four. While this would have been different last year, the SEC is loaded with elite quarterback play, which could make the conference as deep as it has ever been. As a result, there will be four wildcard teams from this league plus the league champion.
One conference will have multiple teams finish undefeated
How does this work? Three conference teams will finish the regular season undefeated. You’ve got an 18-team Big Ten with nine conferences games per team, a 16-team SEC with eight league games and a 17-team ACC with eight league games. Somewhere, there will be three undefeated teams in a league, and only two can play for the title, meaning two will finish undefeated.
Two teams will play each other three times
Imagine if the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes meet the last week of November, again in the Big Ten Championship a week later and then in the College Football Playoff. Who’s to say that won’t happen? I’m here to say it will. Both B1G and SEC title game teams will go to the CFP, and it’s highly likely at least one of them faced each other in the regular season. Then they have the playoff.
One team will THROW a big game
That Michigan-Ohio State scenario leads to this final one: Somebody is going to lose a game on purpose. They may do it by resting their starters, but the incentive just isn’t there in a 12-team playoff. You can sell the bye, but that’s meaningless without home-field advantage, so teams may prefer an easier first-round CFP game than trying to win a league title game. Welcome to a new college football flaw.
