College football will begin in a little over two weeks. And for 135 days, the jostling to become national champion will be continuous. Obviously, only four teams will compete in the College Soccer Round but dozens of teams will be selected for the most lucrative groups, otherwise known as the New Year Six.
We won’t know the identities of all 12 teams until sometime on the afternoon of December 4, the day after most conventions hold their championship games. Only six teams are required to be part of the NY6 school: Each Power Five Conference champion team as well as the top-ranked Group of Five team. The CFP committee has never brought more than one team from outside the Power Five into the New Year Six. I wrote earlier this week about who I think will take the mantle of an outsider for the 2022 season. The other half have no real loyalty to continue.
When it comes to predicting the elite group of 12, the non-CFP quartet of the NY6 bowl games has a number of matches to follow, like the Rose Bowl being the Big Ten vs Pac-12 head-to-head. This year the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl forego the traditional affiliated conventions to host the national semifinals. Who will get the most attention in college football? This is my prediction.
