What would a 12-team College Football Playoff have looked like in 2022?

The College Football Playoff’s four-team format is in its second-to-last year as the TCU Horned Frogs take on the Georgia Bulldogs after the two teams won their respective semifinal games.

Beginning in the 2024-25 college football season, the playoff will take on a 12-team format. The four top-ranked conference champions will get the top four seeds and automatic first-round byes, and the remaining eight spots will be filled with six at-large builds and two more conference champions.

If the 12-team CFP occurred this season, the top two seeds (Georgia and Michigan) would have remained the same, but everything else would have looked a bit different. Since TCU lost their conference championship game, they wouldn’t have qualified for a top-four seed. The third seed would have gone to Clemson, and the fourth to Utah.

Tulane and Kansas State would have both qualified as conference championship winners. Alabama, Tennessee, and USC — all teams that were considered legitimate contenders for the fourth spot this year — would also get a chance. TCU and Ohio State would have still been in the playoff as well, with Washngton making the 12th team in an at-large bid.

We already saw the potential of these matchups in a thriller between Tulane and USC and a huge Penn State victory over Utah, but there’s plenty to look forward to in expansion after a decade of the four-team playoff.

Game 1: No. 12 Washington vs. No. 5 Alabama
Game 2: No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 6 Tennessee
Game 3: No. 10 USC vs. No. 7 Clemson
Game 4: No. 9 Kansas State vs. No. 8 Utah

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. No. 4 Ohio State
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. No. 3 TCU
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. No. 2 Michigan
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. No. 1 Georgia