After Championship Saturday and Selection Sunday, the College Football Playoff field is set, and we are just days away from the first-ever 12-team playoff getting underway.
Despite there almost always being a clear favorite in the four-team era, this year’s trophy appears to be up for grabs as every team among the dozen left in play has looked the part of a title contender at some point or another. In the same breath, every team in the field has also looked vulnerable in 2024.
It’s nearly impossible to predict exactly what will happen, but running simulations and seeing the potential outcomes sure is entertaining.
Twitter user @MattyFreshTV simulated the entire playoff and fit it into a video just over two minutes long, giving us a pretty wild outcome in the end.
Take a look.
Here’s a look at how the playoff ended up going in order off the games as they were played:
First Round
- Notre Dame 34, Iowa State 28
- Penn State 19, SMU 17
- Clemson 13, Texas 12
- Ohio State 31, Tennessee 17
Quarterfinals
- Penn State 20, Boise State 17
- Clemson 31, Arizona State 6
- Ohio State 30, Oregon 24
- Georgia 27, Notre Dame 12
Semifinals
- Penn State 20, Georgia 0
- Ohio State 24, Clemson 17
National Championship
- Penn State 34, Ohio State 31
Penn State was given the easiest path to the semifinals according to the vast majority of college football fans on Sunday, and that ended up winning them a title in College Football 25’s simulation. Will it end up playing out like that when the teams actually meet on the field?
We’ll have to wait and find out, but it won’t be too long, as the first game of the playoff is set for Friday, December 20, as Indiana takes on Notre Dame in South Bend at 7:00 p.m. CT.
