4 teams most likely to be in College Football Playoff, according to ESPN’s new algorithm

For as long as the College Football Playoff has existed – so a total of four seasons – the four teams chosen by the selection committee and why create an annual controversy among programs and their fan bases. Under its current format, it seems like there will always be snubs, teams with questionable credentials included and, especially recently, teams that feel they aren’t given a fair shot. The network – which has the playoff and national championship game broadcasting rights through the 2025-26 season – shared the results of its new Playoff Predictor formula, which will attempt to forecast each team’s chance of making the cut before and throughout the season. ESPN’s analytics is basing its predictions on strength of record, number of losses, conference championships, independent status ( re: Notre Dame) and the Football Power Index (FPI) – how well a team is playing based on expectations.