How Would The College Football Playoff 12-Team Format Looked Like For Florida High School Football?

We take a dive into what the CFP's 12-team playoff would've looked like plus predictions all the way through to the championship game

Robson Lopes

A new measure to have an 8-team Open Division Championship Division won’t go into effect until the 2026-2027 season, but we want to have a little fun until then. 

But how would the recent 2024 FHSAA Football State Championship games have looked like in a College Football Playoff 12-team format? 

We base everything off of the final High School On SI’s Florida Top 25 football rankings and the results of the Rural-1A-7A postseason. Checkout our fantasy projections down below if the FHSAA’s playoffs had a College Football Playoff was hypothetically was on place this past season. 

Final Top 25 Florida High School Football Rankings (12/15/2024)

FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FORMAT 

1st Round 

BYE WEEK: No. 1 Chaminade-Madonna, No. 2 Venice, No. 3 IMG Academy, No. 4 Plantation American Heritage 

No. 9 Orlando Jones at No. 8 West Boca Raton 

This would be a very entertaining matchup between two teams that play somewhat vastly different styles of football. The Bulls ended up winning the 6A state championship with a shutdown defense and consistent offense. West Boca Raton would need to find a way to slow down Dereon Coleman and his receivers, Vernell Brown III & Larry Miles. 

PREDICTION: Orlando Jones 28, West Boca Raton 26 

No. 12 Gadsden County at No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas 

Battle between two teams that like to run the football and often. The Raiders clinched their 16th state championship behind a suffocating defense and a sound offensive performance versus Lakeland. Chance Washington would see the bulk of the carries on the Aquinas’ side. For the Jaguars, they would lean on the hard running of Kemarrion Battles and Tristan Davis. 

PREDICTION: St. Thomas Aquinas 35, Gadsden County 27 

No. 11 Clearwater Central Catholic at No. 6 Cocoa 

We got an idea of how Cocoa would defend against a run-heavy team in the Class 2A state championship win over Gadsden County. They would need Brady Hart and Jayvan Boggs to keep the foot on the gas pedal for this game to stay out of reach for CCC. Let’s imagine that Newton would be available for this contest and the Marauders would look to ball control to keep this game within striking distance in the final quarter. 

PREDICTION: Cocoa 28, CCC 20 

No. 10 Lakeland at No. 7 Miami Northwestern 

A couple of storied programs going at it in the opening round, but our last images of the two would have us leaning with Teddy Bridgewater’s bunch. A well-rounded offense combined with a very opportunistic defense makes the Bulls the choice here to move into the second round. 

PREDICTION: Miami Northwestern 31, Lakeland 14

2nd Round 

No. 9 Orlando Jones at No. 1 Chaminade-Madonna 

This game would have plenty of yards and points involved with it. Seeing Coleman and Tyler Chance go blow for blow in an offensive shootout down in South Florida. Seeing Chris Ewald match up with Brown III or Miles would be a nice recruiting matchup to watch for in this game. It’s just too hard to see Derrek Cooper not making an impact and helping lead the Lions into the semifinals. 

PREDICTION: Chaminade-Madonna 41, Orlando Jones 34 

No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas at No. 4 Plantation American Heritage 

It’s an all-Broward County matchup in the second round between the Patriots and the Raiders. Both won state championships and showed in their respective ways how they would do it. The magic that Malachi Toney showcased throughout the FHSAA playoffs has us mesmerized and the future Miami Hurricanes makes it happen behind a huge performance through the air, out-dueling Andrew Indorf. 

PREDICTION: Plantation American Heritage 40, St. Thomas Aquinas 38 

No. 6 Cocoa at No. 3 IMG Academy 

We saw how the regular season version of this game played out, with the Ascenders winning easily in Bradenton. The game would be right back at IMG Academy and though the Ascenders showed some chinks in the armor, we see them being able to pull off the win a second time. Just nowhere near as dominating, however. Ty Hawkins (SMU signee) scores midway through the fourth quarter to give IMG the two-score advantage they’ll need to pull away from a tough Cocoa bunch. 

PREDICTION: IMG Academy 32, Cocoa 21 

No. 7 Miami Northwestern at No. 2 Venice 

Another game that has already been played during the regular season and we’d love to see again. This one was decided in overtime back at Powell Davis Stadium and would be there hypothetically again in this contest. Venice didn’t have Gata Wilder for the regular season meeting, but has him this time. Leon Strawder still has a big night, throwing for over 300 yards and keeps the Bulls again within striking distance. Instead of Dorien Irving-Jones scoring the game-winning 2-point conversion, it’s Wilder scoring the go-ahead with seconds remaining as the Indians move on. 

PREDICTION: Venice 52, Miami Northwestern 48 

SEMIFINALS 

No. 3 IMG Academy at No. 2 Venice 

The rematch on the South Suncoast. It was played at Venice the first time, with IMG Academy narrowly coming away with a win. First time, however, the Indians played more methodically and slow paced. This time, they put their proverbial foot on the pedal and don’t let up. It’s enough this time around against the vaunted Ascenders, who fell to Corner Canyon (Utah) and St. Frances Academy (Maryland) during the regular season. It’s a last minute victory again for Venice, but having a Power 4 level kicker on your team helps a lot. 

PREDICTION: Venice 24, IMG Academy 22 

No. 4 Plantation American Heritage at No. 1 Chaminade-Madonna 

This is a fun contest as plenty of talent is littered all over the field between these two Broward County programs. The championship pedigree of Chaminade-Madonna has them ready for these moments and the regular season gauntlet they went through immensely helps. It turns into a 150-yard plus rushing night for Cooper as he leads them into the championship game. 

PREDICTION: Chaminade-Madonna 35, Plantation American Heritage 33 

CHAMPIONSHIP 

No. 2 Venice vs. No. 1 Chaminade-Madonna 

In our hypothetical ‘Florida High School Football Playoff’ format for the overall state championship, of course the top two teams are bound to clash. The Indians and Lions facing off is one that’s been long in the making and comes to fruition here. Dameon Jones and his staff would need a strong rotation of bodies on the front seven to help slow down the Indians’ ground attack led by Louisville signee Gata Wilder. Though the Lions would try to force them into being a passing team, John Peacock figures a way behind 2-way Player of the Year Winston Watkins to avert that. Chaminade-Madonna’s offense keeps pace but scores to tie things up in the final quarter. This comes down to a final possession/who has the ball last kind of game and we won’t bet against the right led of Florida State signee Bruno Reus, who kicks the game-winner. 

PREDICTION: Venice 45, Chaminade-Madonna 42 

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi