2023–24 College Football Playoff
College football tournament / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2023–24 College Football Playoff was a single-elimination postseason tournament that determined the national champion of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the tenth edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP) and involved the top four teams in the country as ranked by the College Football Playoff poll playing in two semifinals, with the winners of each advancing to the national championship game. Each participating team was the champion of its respective conference: No. 1 Michigan from the Big Ten Conference, No. 2 Washington from the Pac-12 Conference, No. 3 Texas from the Big 12 Conference, and No. 4 Alabama from the Southeastern Conference. Significant media criticism arose from the exclusion of Florida State, the first undefeated Power Five conference champion to be left out of the CFP.
2023–24 College Football Playoff | |
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Season | 2023 |
Semifinals |
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Championship |
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Teams invited |
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Champions | Michigan (1st CFP title, 12th overall title) |
The playoff bracket's semifinal games were held at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, part of the season's slate of bowl games. In the Rose Bowl semifinal, Michigan defeated Alabama in overtime, 27–20. The second semifinal, at the Sugar Bowl, saw Washington defeat Texas, 37–31. As a result of their victories, Michigan and Washington faced each other in the national championship game, held on January 8 in Houston. In the championship game, Michigan had an effective start to the game on offense and held a seven-point halftime lead, which they were able to expand in the second half. Two touchdowns in the fourth quarter helped them pull away and secure a 34–13 victory for their first national championship since 1997. Their win gave them a 15–0 record to conclude the season, making them the fourth FBS national champions to finish the season with such a record.
This playoff was the last to use the four-team bracket format; the playoff's board of managers announced in December 2022 that the tournament will expand to 12 teams beginning with its 2024–25 edition. Broadcast on ESPN, it was the most viewed playoff since the 2017–18 edition and was shortly followed by a six-year, $7.8 billion extension of the media rights agreement between ESPN and the CFP.