🏈 The Inaugural College Football Playoffs Thread 🏈

THE CONFERENCES:
ACC: Clemson, SMU
B1G: Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State
Independent: Notre Dame
MW: Boise State
SEC: Georgia, Tennessee, Texas
XII: Arizona State

- The First Round -
Game #1 -
Friday, 20 December 2024
Teams: #10 Indiana @ #7 Notre Dame
Venue: Notre Dame Stadium
Where: South Bend, Indiana
Time: 8:00 PM EST / 01:00 GMT
Broadcast: ABC / ESPN

Game #2 -
Saturday, 21 December 2024
Teams: #11 SMU @ #6 Penn State
Venue: Beaver Stadium
Where: State College, Pennsylvania
Time:12:00 Noon EST / 17:00 GMT
Broadcast: TNT

Game #3 -
Teams: #12 Clemson @ #5 Texas
Venue: Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium
Where: Austin, Texas
Time: 4:00 PM EST / 21:00 GMT
Broadcast: TNT

Game #4 -
Teams: #9 Tennessee @ #8 Ohio State
Venue: Ohio Stadium
Where: Columus, Ohio
Time: 8:00 PM EST / 01:00 GMT
Broadcast: ESPN

- The Quarterfinals -
Game #5 -
Tuesday, 31 December 2024
Vrbo Fiesta BowlTeams:
Teams: #6 Penn State vs #3 Boise State
Venue: State Farm Stadium
Where: Glendale, Arizona
Time: 7:30 PM EST / 00:30 GMT
Broacast: ESPN

Game #6 -
Wednesday, 1 January 2025
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Teams: #5 Texas vs #4 Arizona State
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Where: Atlanta, Georgia
Time: 1:00 PM EST / 18:00 GMT
Broadcast: ESPN

Game #7 -
Prudential Rose Bowl
Teams: #8 Ohio State vs #1 Oregon
Venue: Rose Bowl
Where: Pasadena, California
Time: 5:00 PM EST / 22:00 GMT
Broadcast: ESPN

Game #8 -
Thursday, 2 January 2025
Allstate Sugar Bowl
Teams: #7 Notre Dame vs #2 Georgia
Venue: Caesars Superdome
Where: New Orleans, Louisiana
Time: 4:00 PM EST / 21:00 G MT
Broadcast: ESPN

- The Semi-finals -
Game #9
Thursday, 9 January 2025
Capital One Orange Bowl
Teams: #6 Penn State vs #7 Notre Dame
Venue: Hard Rock Stadium
Where: Miami Gardens, Florida
Time: 7:30 EST / 00:30 GMT
Broadcast: ESPN

Game #10 -
Friday, 10 January 2025
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
Teams: #5 Texas vs #8 Ohio State
Venue: AT&T Stadium
Where: Arlington, Texas
Time: 7:30 PM EST / 00:30 GMT
Broadcast: ESPN

- The Natty -
Game #11 -
Monday, 20 January 2025
CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T -
Teams: #7 Notre Dame vs Winners of Cotton Bowl
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Where: Atlanta, Georgia
Time: 7:30 PM EST / 00:30 GMT
Broadcast: ESPN

🎉 Welcome to the Inaugural NCAA College Football Playoff! 🎉
Get ready for an exciting journey through the first-ever 12-Team College Football Playoff, starting this Friday.
Hopefully, I've included everything you need to follow along, as the top teams battle it out for a spot in the
ultimate showdown -- The Natty -- on 20 January 20, 2025.

- No one is perfect, so drop me a DM -- or mention it in thread -- if a link is broken or you find other errors ...

Great work!

Originally posted by English:
Great work!

Right? Good stuff.

I wouldn't mind seeing Texas Vs Oregon and Georgia or Notre Dame be in the finals.

GA has a pretty easy path to the finals.

I think they win it all again, Oregon would be my 2nd choice.

How did ASU get a bye as the overall 12 ranked team? Same with Boise

Originally posted by GoreGoreGore:
GA has a pretty easy path to the finals.

I think they win it all again, Oregon would be my 2nd choice.

Looking at the bracket, it's hard to disagree.
Anything can happen, and if Ohio State can't bounce back (mentally), I expect these teams to advance to the quarterfinal round:

• Tennessee vs Oregon
• Texas vs Arizona State
• Notre Dame vs Georgia
• Penn State vs Boise State

Originally posted by Hoovtrain:
How did ASU get a bye as the overall 12 ranked team? Same with Boise

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2024-08-29/how-12-team-college-football-playoff-will-work-teams-schedule-bids

Also:
The NCAA selection committee decided which teams received a bye, and which did not for the inaugural 12-Team Playoffs based on a set of criteria.
Here's a brief overview:

The NCAA selection committee decided which teams received a bye and which did not for the inaugural 12-team playoffs based on a set of criteria. Here's a brief overview:

• Top Four Conference Champions: The top four conference champions receive automatic byes into the quarterfinals. These teams are seeded 1 through 4
• Ranking and Seeding: The remaining eight spots are filled based on the CFP rankings, which consider factors such as strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, comparative outcomes of common opponents, and any other relevant factors
• At-Large Bids and Conference Champions: The committee selects the next six highest-ranked teams, which can include at-large bids and the highest-ranked remaining conference champions. This ensures that at least one "Group of 5" team is included every year

• First-Round Matchups: Teams ranked 5 through 12 play in the first round, with the higher-seeded teams hosting the games at their home stadiums.
  
  

it's finally game time ...

So far, each QB has thrown an INT!
It was Rouke's first of the season in the Redzone

The Irish turn the TO into a 98 yd TD run, on the 1st play from scrimmage ...

So far, Indiana and Notre dame look like who we thought they were

Man, Hoosiers can't get anything going - I thought they'd play better than this ...

Originally posted by FlayvaMeister:
Man, Hoosiers can't get anything going - I thought they'd play better than this ...

Nah

one problem of huge conferences is teams accidentally end up with soft schedules (Indiana, Colorado) where they dodge the top teams

imho Indiana was worst team in playoffs