College Football Playoff's first 12-team bracket is set with Oregon No. 1 and SMU in, Alabama out
SMU captured the last open spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, bumping Alabama to land in a bracket that placed undefeated Oregon at No. 1
By EDDIE PELLS
Published - Dec 08, 2024, 07:59 PM ET
Last Updated - Dec 16, 2024, 05:03 PM EST
The new, 12-team College Football Playoff brings with it a promise to be bigger, more exciting, more lucrative.
Perfect or 100% fair? Well, nobody ever believed that.
The first expanded playoff bracket unveiled Sunday left a presumably deserving Alabama team on the sideline in favor of an SMU squad that finished with a better record after playing a schedule that was not as difficult.
It ranked undefeated Oregon first but set up a possible rematch against Ohio State, the team that came closest to beating the Ducks this year.
