Why the SEC, Big Ten have a stranglehold on the College Football Playoff in the 2024 season

On3 released its “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 for the 2024 college football season on Tuesday afternoon, just one day after the 2023 season ended with Michigan winning it all and hoisting the trophy after emerging victorious in the College Football Playoff.

One thing becomes abundantly clear when looking at the way-too-early top 25: The Big Ten and the SEC are well represented.

In fact, only one team currently in the top 10 doesn’t hail from one of those two power conferences and that’s Notre Dame.

“Yeah, and you’ll notice who’s not on there: Oklahoma, LSU, Tennessee,” On3’s Jesse Simonton, the creator of the list, told Andy Staples. “Teams that could, I think, nip their way into one of those 10 spots. Absolutely.”

Several SEC teams can justify their ranking being so high going into the 2024 season, starting with Georgia, which was the two-time defending national champion until its run was halted by a loss to Alabama in this year’s SEC Championship Game.

The Bulldogs will return quarterback Carson Beck and a slew of defensive players who have been major difference-makers in the last year or two. They’ve also added talent through the transfer portal like Florida star running back Trevor Etienne.

Ole Miss is another team that has been greatly bolstered by transfer portal additions, as is Missouri.

Frankly, there are several SEC teams going into 2024 that will feel pretty good about their chances to compete for a College Football Playoff spot. The top 25, though, also features several Big Ten teams.

Oregon is the first among them, in large part due to the addition of quarterback Dillon Gabriel from Oklahoma. Coach Dan Lanning has built a considerable base of talent in Eugene, Ore., and it’s just a matter of getting it to mesh now.

Meanwhile, programs like Michigan and Ohio State should remain a threat to reach the College Football Playoff.

“I think if you’re putting an over/under for the 12-team playoff next season, the SEC probably stands at about 4.0, the Big Ten is maybe at about 3.5,” Simonton said. “So when you’re talking about maybe seven of the 12 spots, I think this is what that 12-team playoff is going to look like, until, we both know Andy, they kind of come up with more parameters from here in a year from now.”

Judging by the early top 25 lists coming out, that certainly seems to be the case. Plan on a heavy dose of the Big Ten and the SEC when it comes to discussing who makes next year’s College Football Playoff field.