2024 Preseason 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction

The college football season is almost here and that means it's officially time to start looking at who is going to be in the College Football Playoffs field. Things are quite a bit different than they ever have been in the sport.

The four-team playoff field is gone. The 12-team college football playoff field is in. That means that more teams are getting in. It also means that you don't have to win your conference to get in. However, winning the conference can mean a better seeding. Though it's not getting anyone a first round bye.

And a first-round bye is big. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded 1-4, while seeds 5 through 12 will fight amongst each other in the first round, with the higher seeds hosting the games. For those wondering where Notre Dame football fits in, they cannot be higher than the 5 seed, but considering they don't need to win a conference championship to get that high seed, it's a decent tradeoff.

Without further ado, here's the official Slap the Sign Week inaugural College Football Playoffs prediction:

2024 Preseason 12-team CFP prediction

Thanks to Notre Dame having a less than a strenuous schedule, I believe the Fighting Irish are set up to be the highest-seeded at-large team of the bunch. Should these seedings shake out this way, it would mean that they'll take on the Missouri Tigers in South Bend.

That would certainly be an interesting matchup with two teams that are closer geographically than one might assume when talking about Mizzou being in the SEC.

Here's hoping the College Football Playoffs shakes out this way because it could allow Notre Dame to make some noise in the postseason.