SMQ: What would a 12-team College Football Playoff look like in 2021?

The College Football Playoff first leaked a proposal for a 12-team field this summer. Here’s what an expanded Playoff bracket would look like this season.

Back in June, the College Football Playoff released a proposal for expanding from a four-team spectacle to a full 12-team bracket.

The original proposal would provide an automatic qualification for the six highest-rated conference champions — without guarantees to any specific conference champion — and wild cards distributed to the six highest-rated teams that did not win conference titles. In the proposal, the top four conference champions receive byes in the opening round, with the higher seeds hosting the first round on college campuses.

Since June, a lot has happened in the world of college football.

Conferences are realigning once again. Oklahoma and Texas restarted the game of musical chairs when they announced their impending jump from the Big 12 to the SEC. Teams played full seasons as COVID-19 vaccines reduced the impact of a still-ongoing pandemic. We’ve already seen nearly 20 percent of the FBS head coaching positions turn over, with major vacancies opening up across the country.

We’ve also seen several conferences lobby for alternative College Football Playoff expansion models. Both eight-team and 12-team alternatives have been offered up, with most looking to protect privileged status for what are now known as the Power Five conferences.

The original proposal remains the most simple, elegant, and egalitarian model. Ahead of the release of College Football Playoff’s final rankings on Selection Sunday, let’s project what a 12-team bracket might look like this year in today’s Sunday Morning Quarterback.