15 schools that can throw a wrench in the College Football Playoff

During the decade of the four-team College Football Playoff format, there was a notion that the same teams would play in it each year. Some of that may be true: Alabama gained eight berths; Clemson went 6 times; Ohio State claimed six spots. Georgia and Oklahoma each went 3 times. In those ten seasons, only 15 different programs earned a playoff berth (40 total spots).

Every once in a while, someone sneaks in that you didn’t expect. In 2021, Cincinnati became the first Group of 5 team to earn a playoff spot. The following season, TCU came out of nowhere to play in the national championship game. Michigan State played in the second playoff.

Last year, in the first edition of the expanded format, six schools made their first appearance in the playoffs. Schools like Indiana, Arizona State, and Boise State broke through and found themselves in the tournament to play for the national championship. Even though none of those schools won a game in the playoffs, they got their program on that kind of stage for the first time. That should feel like it will be the new normal as teams have more access to this playoff … and especially with a likely expansion to 16 teams coming in the near future.

So who could be the next TCU or Indiana? Or who could be the Group of 5 school that breaks through? Or who could be the school that may not get there but could play spoiler for teams looking to get in (like Syracuse knocking Miami out in the regular season finale)?  Here are 15 teams who could throw a wrench in the College Football Playoff.