What a college football 64-team playoff bracket would look like in 2023

The stalemate over playoff expansion in college football has ended. Finally.

In 2024, the format will go from four teams to 12, meaning refreshingly there will be a few new faces added to the postseason festivities. Of course, we here at ESPN have been ahead of the curve for a few years and will again count it down from 64 teams in our fictional 2023 NCAA football tournament.

Here's the format: We've seeded the teams 1 through 64, and the seeds are based to some degree on ESPN's latest SP+ projections entering the 2023 season.

The top four seeds are Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and Alabama (yes, 17 playoff appearances among them). With the Crimson Tide being the fourth No. 1 seed, that means they will travel to the West Region. Keep in mind that seeds aren't written in stone, and just like in any tournament in any sport, there will be upsets. The basketball committee insists it doesn't look for compelling storylines when setting up its bracket. We're just the opposite. We'll do our best to create those storylines.

So let the second-guessing begin. We're braced for it, the claims of SEC bias (even though 13 of the past 17 national champs were produced by the SEC) and the chastising over so-called snubs and perennial powers being slayed in the early rounds.

We've done our homework as we look ahead to the 2023 season, but remember to have a little fun. It's called March Madness for a reason.

Today, we will examine the field and work our way through the first two rounds of the tournament, narrowing the pool from 64 to 16. We'll then play the rest of the games and crown a national champion.

The Bracket

1-seeds: Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama

2-seeds: Penn State, Tennessee, LSU, Oregon

3-seeds: Florida State, USC, Clemson, Washington

4-seeds: Utah, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Ole Miss

5-seeds: Texas, UCLA, Oklahoma, TCU

6-seeds: Kansas State, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Mississippi State

7-seeds: Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon State

8-seeds: Auburn, South Carolina, Minnesota, Arkansas

9-seeds: Tulane, Texas Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma State

10-seeds: Pittsburgh, Louisville, Baylor, Maryland

11-seeds: UCF, Illinois, Miami, Michigan State

12-seeds: NC State, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Nebraska

13-seeds: Purdue, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Houston

14-seeds: Troy, Duke, Kansas, Washington State

15-seeds: SMU, BYU, UTSA, Syracuse

16-seeds: Colorado, South Alabama, Western Kentucky, East Carolina

First four out: Indiana, Memphis, James Madison, Georgia Tech

SOUTH REGIONAL

FIRST ROUND

(1) Georgia 40, (16) East Carolina 14: For the first time since seemingly the Reagan administration, Stetson Bennett isn't Georgia's starting quarterback in a postseason game. Carson Beck, though, gets it done with three touchdown passes to three different players, and Mike Houston's best season yet at ECU comes to a close.
(2) Oregon 34, (15) Syracuse 17: This one is closer than anyone expected in the first half, as Syracuse holds Oregon to just field goals inside the red zone. But a 13-10 halftime lead for Oregon quickly swells to a 24-point cushion thanks to a defensive touchdown by the Ducks and another touchdown set up by a Trikweze Bridges interception.

(3) Washington 31, (14) Washington State 21: It's an Apple Cup rematch, and the Huskies complete the season sweep to win 11 games for the second straight season. Rome Odunze catches a 60-yard touchdown pass in the first half and adds a tackle-breaking 45-yarder in the second half.

(4) Ole Miss 40, (13) Houston 37: It's never dull when a couple of offensive gurus like Lane Kiffin and Dana Holgorsen face off in the postseason. Both are known for their explosive, high-scoring offenses, but Ole Miss' running game -- Quinshon Judkins rushes for 164 yards -- helps the Rebels play keep-away from the Cougars in the fourth quarter.

(12) Nebraska 28, (5) TCU 26: The time-honored tradition of a No. 12 seed knocking off a No. 5 seed continues with Matt Rhule making a resounding statement in his first season in Lincoln. The Huskers are led by a two-sack performance from linebacker MJ Sherman, a Georgia transfer.

(6) Mississippi State 38, (11) Michigan State 28: The Bulldogs' offense looks a little different under new coordinator Kevin Barbay, but veteran quarterback Will Rogers is his usual productive self with 404 passing yards and four touchdowns in an emotional win the Bulldogs dedicate to their late coach, Mike Leach.

(10) Maryland 33, (7) Oregon State 30 (OT): Mike Locksley has been steadily building a winning program at Maryland, and this is his biggest step yet in a back-and-forth contest that sees Taulia Tagovailoa outduel Clemson transfer DJ Uiagalelei in a game that is decided in overtime.

(9) Oklahoma State 35, (8) Arkansas 31: Mike Gundy and the Cowboys entered the year stinging from a disappointing 2022 season that saw them lose five of their last six games. And while there were some bumps along the way with an overhauled roster, Oklahoma State finds a way to play its best game in the postseason and upset the Hogs.

SECOND ROUND

(1) Georgia 45, (9) Oklahoma State 12: This one is never really close. The Cowboys can't get anything going on offense against a Georgia defense that allows a total of three first downs until the latter part of the fourth quarter. Once again, Beck plays turnover-free football and leads the Dawgs to touchdowns on their first three possessions.
(2) Oregon 38, (7) Maryland 34: Talk about a quarterback classic. Bo Nix and Tagovailoa take turns entertaining the crowd with one pinpoint throw after another. They combine for more than 900 yards of total offense, and it's a 21-yard touchdown run by Nix that proves to be the winning points for the Ducks.

(3) Washington 26, (6) Mississippi State 23: The defenses (and turnover-prone offenses) do their part to make this more of a grind-it-out game. Washington's talented pass-rush tandem of Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui lives in the Mississippi State backfield, and the Huskies hold on to win after coming up with a late fourth-down stop.

(4) Ole Miss 33, (12) Nebraska 24: Once upon a time, Kiffin and Rhule were both NFL head coaches. Their meeting in this second-round game boils down to Ole Miss quarterback Spencer Sanders time and time again scrambling for the first-down marker on critical third and fourth downs. The Rebels punt only once in the game, as Kiffin in vintage fashion keeps going for it on fourth down.

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(1) Georgia vs. (4) Ole Miss