SEC would have occupied a quarter of the CFP spots since 2021 if the 24-team bracket had existed

College Football Playoff administrators and ESPN announced on Monday an expansion from 12 to 24 teams, set to begin in 2027. A retroactive analysis shows that if the 24-team bracket had existed since 2021, the SEC would have accounted for a quarter of all CFP spots across the past five editions. Additionally, five schools would have appeared in every bracket, and at least five of the 16 campus-site first-round games would have been held in cold-weather locations.