ESPN Insider Drops Honest Admission About College Football Playoff, Top Conferences

College football preseason camps are ramping up as we approach the beginning of the 2024 season. The upcoming year presents a new College Football Playoff model.

One of the biggest topics of the offseason involves how many conferences will have multiple playoff bids in a 12-team tournament. Some see leagues like the SEC and Big Ten dominating the playoff field, while others have the ACC well represented.

ESPN's Tom Luginbill discussed why some, perhaps many, of the best teams might not all make the 12-team playoff on "The Next Round."

“The question isn’t how many playoff-caliber teams you have. The question is how many teams can you get to double-digit wins within each conference to put yourself in a position to get one of those 8-12 seeds.”

With the Big Ten now comprised of 18 teams and SEC up to 16 teams after expansion, there are more opportunities for teams in those leagues to reach 10 wins. With best programs not all slated to face every other top team in their league, more teams can reach double-digit wins.

Teams like the Penn State Nittany Lions and Missouri Tigers might not face enough projected contenders to expect anything less than nine wins.

In contrast, other teams face much tougher schedules. The Georgia Bulldogs , Michigan Wolverines and Oklahoma Sooners might end up being better than their record indicates, because they face a gauntlet of difficult matchups.

Georgia will play against Alabama , Texas and Ole Miss on the road. The three teams join the Bulldogs in the Top 4 of the preseason SEC media poll . Elsewhere in the conference, new SEC addition Oklahoma faces six of the top eight projected teams in the same preseason poll.

Michigan faces Ohio State , Oregon and Texas, all of which are projected Top 4 teams in Athlon Sports' Top 25 rankings .

Tom Luginbill argues that nonconference play will have a role in which conferences have the most bids.

"The ACC's gotta step up and be big boys when Miami plays Florida , when NC State takes on Tennessee in Week 2, alright, when Clemson takes on Georgia. You can't change a narrative unless you start winning those games."

ACC title favorite Florida State will kick off the college football season against Georgia Tech on August 24.

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