REPORT: College Football Playoff Investigating Suspicious ‘Leak’
Officials for the College Football Playoff are launching an investigation into the leaked information of the 12-team postseason.
This year marks the first season of the expanded 12-team format for the College Football Playoff, an increase of the old four-team format. The 12 teams to qualify (ranked from first to 12th) are: Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, Arizona State, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Indiana, SMU and Clemson.
As noted by Matt Hayes of USA Today, the final 12 rankings were leaked by multiple reporters before the CFP made the official announcement. This included a spoiler from Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, who reported that SMU would get in over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Speaking to Hayes, College Football Playoff director Rich Clark expressed outrage and said there would be an investigation to uncover the “mole” who leaked the information to reporters:
I was furious. I told all involved, you’ve betrayed the process. “There are only a certain number of people who know. I know one thing, it wasn’t me. There’s the selection committee, ESPN and our staff. Someone in that group (is the leak).”
Hayes reports that this marked the first time there had been a leak before the official announcement. Clark added that he was caught off guard and found out about the leak from his son via text message.
Among the four semi-finalists from last year, only the Longhorns qualified for the 12-team postseason. The defending champion Michigan Wolverines will meet Alabama (they lost to Michigan in one semi-final game) in the ReliaQuest Bowl, while the runner-up Washington Huskies will face Louisville in the Sun Bowl.
Dates To Know For 2024-25 College Football Playoff
The four top seeds in the postseason (Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State) were granted first-round byes. The opening round will run on Dec. 20-21, with Indiana vs. Notre Dame beginning the action on the 20th.
The SMU-Penn State, Clemson-Texas and Tennessee-Ohio State games will take place on Saturday. Boise State will play their quarter-final opponent on Dec. 31, with the other top-three teams playing on Jan. 1.
The two semi-final matchups will be played on Jan. 9 and 10, with the national championship taking place on Jan. 20.
