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College Football Playoff Rankings

The College Football Playoff (CFP) is the system that will determine a national champion for the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) since the 2014 season.

Twelve-Team Playoff (2024-Present)

The CFP Board of Managers voted in 2023 to expand the playoff to 12 teams beginning in 2024, an arrangement that will last at least through the end of the 2025 season. The 12-team CFP format features, for the first time, a first round of playoffs not attached to bowl games. The first round will consist of seeds 5 through 12 playing at the home stadium of the better-seeded teams, or another venue of their choice. The quarterfinal and semifinal games will consist of the “New Year’s Six” bowl games, with a national championship game after that. The College Football Playoff National Championship game is then played on the first Monday that is six or more days after the Semifinals. The venue of the championship game is then selected based on bids submitted by cities.

Features of the expanded playoff include:

  • Guaranteed bids for the top-five conference champions in the CFP rankings; no conference will have an automatic bid, a conference must have a minimum of eight members for its champion to be eligible for a guaranteed bid.
  • At-large bids for the seven highest-ranked remaining teams, which could include additional conference champions.
  • The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive first-round byes.
  • The remaining teams will play each other in the first round at the home fields of the better seeds or an alternate venue of their choosing; match-ups will be 5–12, 6–11, 7–10, and 8–9.
  • The quarterfinals and semifinals will be hosted by the New Year’s Six (the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, and Sugar bowls) on a rotating basis.
  • First round games will occur in December, quarterfinal games on or around New Year’s Day, semifinal games at least one week later, and the championship game one week after the semifinals.

Four-Team Playoff (2014-23)

Four teams played in two semifinal games, with the winners advancing to the College Football Championship Game. Six bowl games – the Rose, Sugar , Orange, Cotton, Fiesta, and Peach – rotated as hosts for the semifinal games. The rotation was set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: Rose/Sugar, Orange/Cotton, and Fiesta/Peach. The two semifinals plus the other four top-tier bowls were marketed as the “New Year’s Six”, with three bowls played per day, typically on consecutive days that included New Year’s Day. The championship game was played on the first Monday that was six or more days after the semifinals. The game’s venue was selected based on bids submitted by cities. A committee of 13 experts selected and seeds the teams in the CPF.

LSU Football in the College Football Playoff Rankings – Week-by-Week

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YearW1W2W3W4W5W6W7Final
2014191617--2423
20152915-2120
2016132416-2120
2017192420181717
201837771011
2019211221
2020-----
2021------
2022107651417
2023141915141313-
20241522----
2025---

 

Bowl Championship Series History

From 1998-2013, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created five bowl match-ups involving 10 of the top-ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.

The BCS relied on a combination of polls and computer selection methods to determine relative team rankings, and to narrow the field to two teams to play in the BCS National Championship Game held after the other college bowl games. The American Football Coaches Association was contractually bound to vote the winner of this game as the BCS National Champion and the contract signed by each conference requires them to recognize the winner of the BCS National Championship game as the official and only Champion. The BCS was created to end split championships and for the Champion to win the title on the field between the two teams selected by the BCS.

The system also selected match-ups for the other prestigious BCS bowl games. The 10 teams selected include the conference champion from each of the six Automatic Qualifying conferences plus four others. The BCS was created by formal agreement by those six conferences (the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern conferences) and the three FBS independent schools, and has evolved to allow other conferences to participate.

It was in place from the 1998-2013 seasons. Prior to the 2006 season eight teams competed in four BCS Bowls. The BCS replaced the Bowl Alliance, in place from 1995-1997, which followed the Bowl Coalition, in place from 1992-1994.

On June 26, 2012, the Bowl Championship Series was replaced by a four-team “College Football Playoff,” effective after the 2014-15 season.

LSU Football in the Bowl Championship Series Rankings – Week-by-Week

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YearW1W2W3W4W5W6W7Final
2001-------13
2002914-13----
2003127744332
20041920171916131111
2005688754412
200618161712111054
200743321172
20081319162018---
200999988151312
2010612105551011
201111111111
201266577778
20131313132122171516