The NCAA Tournament will hit its climax this weekend with the Final Four, pitting the best teams in the nation against each other with a national championship on the line. Though it isn’t quite as expansive as its basketball counterpart, the College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams for the 2024 season.
So, though making the “Final Four” was once a given for teams that earned a berth in the previous format, a trip to the semifinals moving forward will involve playing through at least a couple of rounds. That creates an air of unpredictability around the College Football Playoff that we haven’t yet seen.
With March Madness still in the air, though, and several college football teams reaching the end of their spring practice sessions, it felt appropriate to take a stab at predicting the Final Four for the 2024 season; in other words, the college football writers at CBS Sports each took a stab at picking which four teams will be the last ones standing.
There are the obvious powerhouses to choose from, like Ohio State and Georgia — two teams that are looking to make it back to the playoff after missing out in 2023 — and some dark horses, such as Ole Miss and Notre Dame, that could benefit from an expanded field to make a deep run. Here’s how we think the “Final Four” will play out during the 2024 college football season.
Chip Patterson
Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon
While the ACC and the Big 12 champions will have an advantage in the 12-team playoff by getting a pass directly to the quarterfinals, I wonder if the rest/rust debate breaks the other way when they have to play a first-round winner that might be a betting favorite. I think the likes of Texas or Oregon could be coming off victories in front of their home…
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