After a long-awaited offseason, we are at the start of college football season and our 2024 season playoff predictions.

This will be the inaugural season of the new 12-team playoff format. Let’s review the top 5 highest-rated conference champions who will earn a playoff spot. We will also examine the following seven highest-ranked teams in the playoff rankings.

Enormous Implications in Two Areas 

1. A group of 5 conference champions will make it into the postseason. They will have an outside chance at the national championship. UCF, Utah, Boise State, TCU, and others in the past, when a group of five conferences argued to be in the mix. They will now get a chance to make some noise.
2. The bottom eight teams play a first-round game, and the top four seeds of that group host a home playoff game. This means we could have weather-impact games like we have never seen before. We could see teams in the North hosting a playoff game in late December.

In last year’s prediction from early March 2023, we nailed four out of the Top five playoff teams. This year, the field has expanded to 12 teams. Because of that, we want to digest the transfer portal information a little more. Obviously, this is a snapshot in time. Lots can happen between now and the playoffs if teams sustain significant injuries.

2024 Season Playoff Predictions Conference Champions

SEC – Georgia Bulldogs

The Bulldogs lost many skilled players. McConkey, Milton, and Bowers all graduated. The roster is deep, and they return Carson Beck as the signal caller. Their significant asset is not having to play Nick Saban anymore. It’s a considerable asset for everyone, but they stand to gain the most with the significance of their level of play. An early season matchup with Texas looms, but they should get back to a Conference title.

BIG 12 – Oklahoma State

OSU Cowboys got left behind by Texas and Oklahoma. At first, it looked like a giant slap in the face. Now, it is a massive blessing. All factors line up for them, with many key players returning. This includes All-American Ollie Gordon at RB and Alex Bowman at QB. Texas and Oklahoma were their most formidable opponents. Without them, their most formidable opponents will be Utah at home and Kansas State. The path to the playoff has never been easier for the fighting mullets, and we believe they will get it done.

BIG TEN – Ohio State

Undoubtedly, Oregon and Ohio State will be the toast of the Big Ten. Ryan Day has been an underrated coach since Ohio State lost three in a row to Michigan. Now, he will be looking to answer in a big way this year. Ohio State has a more demanding schedule. We expect they will get into that conference title game even with one loss. With that, they will secure their playoff spot as conference champions.

ACC – Miami

The ACC is tremendously deep this year, with the addition of SMU and the resurgence of Virginia Tech. This will be one of the most exciting conference battles to watch play out. There is the addition of Cameron Ward. In addition, it has been three years under Cristobal’s culture. We see the Hurricanes winning the conference with both in play.

Mountain West – Fresno State

With a veteran team returning, this sets up nicely for the Bulldogs to win out. Yet, with Jeff Tedford retired over the summer. The win falls to a rookie HC Tim Skipper to lead them. Most are picking Boise State. They have a veteran team and a new HC, Spencer Danielson. Danielson led them on a four-game win streak to finish last season. They will likely have to face Boise State in the conference title game to win the league. At that point, Boise will be looking for exact revenge.

2024 Season Playoff Predictions At Large Bids

Mississippi

This is the most experienced team Lane Kiffin has had in a long time, coinciding with Nick Saban’s retirement. We don’t think they will win the conference, but they should make the playoffs. Even two losses on a formidable schedule means they will stay within reach.

Texas

It’s another year for Steve Sarkisian and Quinn Ewers to team up. They lose Xavier Worthy but return most of their defense, including four of the top five tacklers. The schedule will be strict with back-to-back games of Oklahoma and Georgia. Still, they can stay ranked high despite losing either one. The key game will be beating the Aggies on Thanksgiving week to secure their spot.

Oregon

Oregon will have a solid team, with Dillon Gabriel taking over at quarterback. Since they will be so dominant during the season, we expect them to still make the playoffs, even with a loss to Ohio State.

2024 Season Playoff Predictions Just Missed

Boise State

As mentioned earlier, the Mountain West will come down to Boise State and Fresno State. The loser of the conference title game will be on the outside looking in at the playoffs.

Iowa State

Iowa State will have a very experienced team for Matt Campbell’s ninth year. However, with their last two games against Utah and Kansas State, it will be hard to sweep both contests. That will likely need to happen for the Cyclones to make the playoffs.

Utah

We would like to see Utah make the playoffs. However, with Iowa State at home and UCF at UCF in the final two games, it sets up a trap game to close out the season. Losing a game in the final two weeks will be hard for any non-conference champion to overcome.

2024 Season Playoff Predictions & Our Track Record

Why University Foot-Ball – Look at Our Track Record

We used our algorithms and data to predict the 2023 playoff teams, and look how we did! We posted these picks to X and Instagram on March 2nd, 2023 (green highlight).

In 2023, we correctly predicted four of the top five teams! Unfortunately, Florida State’s quarterback got hurt; we all know what happened there. Ugh.

This insight goes into our weekly picks. This year, we’ll get our best team prop picks for all early bird signups when we post those in August!