The college football postseason enters a new era in 2024 with the arrival of a 12-team College Football Playoff, featuring automatic bids for the top five conference champions and seven at-large selections. The excitement of the brackets will continue throughout the fall, but one thing is certain: more teams than ever before will have a realistic chance of competing for a national title.
But how much more? While many of the nation’s elite programs are expected to make it into the top 12 most years, the expanded field leaves room for some surprises, especially in the first year of the new system. Below, work out‘s college football writers have ranked the most appealing college football playoff teams this season. Programs ranked in the preseason coaches’ poll and ranked No. 1 in the league’s preseason media poll were excluded from consideration.
This could be the Hokies’ best team since Frank Beamer retired. Tech found something in quarterback Kyron Drones, and has won five of its last seven games, including a bowl game, to close out 2023. Drones threw 17 touchdowns on three picks and rushed for 818 yards last season, igniting a long-dormant offense. Defensive lineman Antwaun Powell-Ryland (14.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks) and a loaded secondary returner on a unit that head coach Brent Pry specializes in. The Hokies ranked in the top five nationally in returning roster production, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly. There’s probably room for a slow-sleep sleeper in a 12-team field. — Kyle Tucker
The Cyclones return nine starters on both offense and defense, including breakout quarterback Rocco Becht, his top four receivers, the defense’s top five tacklers and leading rusher Abu Sama. Iowa State beat Oklahoma State and Kansas State last year and wraps up the season with a trip to Utah and a home game against K-State. — Scott Doterman
Jeff Brohm led the Cardinals to a 10-win season, an ACC championship game appearance in his first year at the helm, and has several key players on a sound defense, including end Ashton Jilotte. Can Texas Tech transfer quarterback Tyler Shaw thrive in Brohm’s system? There will be ample opportunity to move up the rankings with games against Notre Dame, Clemson and Miami. — Jesse Temple
Believe in the second-year leap. Louisville returns 15 players who made at least five starts in 2023 and bolsters that group with a strong transfer portal class. The schedule is also favorable. Louisville plays just two of the top eight teams in the ACC preseason poll (Clemson and Miami), and a trip to South Bend is a good opportunity to bolster its playoff resume. —Kennington Smith III
Is there not enough to talk about and write about the Mountaineers? Quarterback Garrett Greene has a chance to compete for the Heisman. Neal Brown’s team has a chance to upset Penn State and make an immediate statement in Week 1. West Virginia has seven home games, and with Penn State, Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Baylor and UCF all traveling to Morgantown, there are plenty of showcase opportunities that could help tip the scales. — Audrey Snyder
The Bobcats were atop the West Division in the Sun Belt preseason poll, but fell behind East-leading Appalachian State in the overall poll, qualifying for the Group of 5 sleeper. GJ Kinne’s senior season was 8-5, including a season-opening road win over Baylor, and Kinne entered the transfer portal for James Madison’s Sun Belt Player of the Year quarterback Jordan McCloud. The schedule is also set in their favor. The Bobcats can win at home against Arizona State and UTSA, but they have respectable nonconference games and a Sun Belt schedule that avoids the top five teams in the East Division, according to the preseason poll. — Justin Williams
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The Knights were the only Big 12 rookies to reach a bowl game last season, and head coach Gus Malzahn has significantly upgraded his roster through the transfer portal, adding 27 newcomers, both of whom have 327 college starts. Quarterback KJ Jefferson, a transfer from Arkansas, leads the offense, and there are 1,400-yard rushers RJ Harvey and Peny Boone (a Toledo transfer) a year ago. They should score a lot. — Manny Navarro
State of Nevada
In the name of Randall Cunningham? (Or Stacy Augman?) In fact, in the name of Barry Odom, who was a very good defensive coordinator at Missouri but wasn’t a very good coach there, but has found his level in the West. UNLV is ranked No. 2 in the Mountain West, and the only big question mark is how they will replace quarterback Jaden Maiava, who transferred to USC (and initially committed to Georgia). That needs to be addressed quickly, because three early nonconference games will be key to their CFP hopes: home games against Houston, Kansas and Syracuse. It’ll be tough, but it would be a great story for UNLV to advance to the first expanded CFP. — Seth Emerson
If the Rebels can figure out how to replace Maiava, they’ll be dangerous. The Rebels reached the Mountain West championship game in Odom’s first season, and his team has a ton of talent surrounding the quarterback. But we all know how important quarterbacks are in college football. — Daniel Shirley
Call me crazy, but I believe in the Scarlet Knights this year. Greg Schiano has made some great recruits in the program’s backyard, and they’ve got a lot of talent back from the team that led Ohio State at halftime last season. They’ll have a new quarterback in Athan Kaliakmanis, a transfer from Minnesota, and running back Kyle Monangay is one of the under-represented running backs in the country. The schedule has also changed right up to the competition. The Scarlet Knights won’t play Penn State, Oregon, Ohio State, Iowa or Michigan this year. — Cameron Teague Robinson
Want to go crazy? Let’s go crazy. The parameters of this exercise basically require the team to be in a high-leverage situation where one or two unexpected upsets can overturn all assumptions. I’ll introduce the Badgers at home against Alabama in mid-September. It’ll be the first time an SEC team has played at Camp Randall Stadium since 1971. The stadium will be crazy, and the Crimson Tide will be coached by someone other than Nick Saban. And then there’s USC on the road in two weeks. It’s not insurmountable! And finally, Oregon at home in mid-November, and for those not used to late fall in the Midwest, the climate can be very unfavorable. Even if the Badgers lose one or two of these games, it’s no longer a fatality for a 12-team playoff. And quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is a high-leverage wild card. — Brian Hamilton
The Bulls went from 1-11 to 7-6 in Alex Golesh’s first season as head coach, including a 45-0 bowl win over Syracuse. Keep an eye on Tampa, with star quarterback Byrum Brown returning and a likely improved defense. The nonconference schedule with Alabama and Miami is tough, but the conference schedule could be beneficial, as USF is scheduled to play four of the bottom five teams in the AAC preseason poll at home. If the Bulls can get past their first five games by going 3-2, keep an eye on the second half. — Chris Vanini
South American University
The ACC competition feels like a bit of a wild card, so why not pick a conference rookie who can make waves in his first year? Last year’s Mustangs ranked eighth in the FBS in scoring offense, and went 11-3 and won the AAC championship. Quarterback Preston Stone returns after throwing for 3,197 yards (26th in FBS) and 28 touchdowns (11th) as a redshirt sophomore, and he had a passer rating of 161.3 (13th). Of course, the Mustangs lost to undefeated Liberty in last year’s Group of 5 New Year’s Six bid, so the burden on the committee is even greater. — Jaina Bardal
I have a lot of faith in new coach Jon Sumrall after taking over a program that won a combined 15 games over the last three seasons in Troy and went 23-4, including two straight Sun Belt titles. Sumrall has brought two coordinators to Tulane and has done a great job of adding portal talent to an already athletically gifted Green Wave roster. The schedule offers a chance to impress the committee with a home game against Kansas State and a road game at Oklahoma. And AAC preseason favorite Memphis should travel to New Orleans in the regular season finale. — Sam Kahn Jr.
Sun Belt contenders could steal the playoff crown, and Liberty’s strength of schedule is unlikely to be impressive. That leaves room for someone else to break through and claim a guaranteed spot in the Group of 5 in the 12-team playoff. After a reset season in which they won nine games (two against Power 5 schools), the Bulldogs bring back quarterback Mikey Keene and have a schedule that should be good even if coach Jeff Tedford retires this summer. — Antonio Morales
(Photo above: Chris Jones, Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
