The College Football Playoff semifinals feature classic brands in rare matchups that should make for riveting games leading up to the CFP championship game on Jan. 20. It also features four of the top-five scoring defenses in the FBS.

That pair, and others like it, became part of notable trend in the 2024-25 bowl season: 21 of the 30 non-Playoff bowls that aired on an ESPN network through Jan. 2 saw year-over-year viewership increases, the majority of them by 20 percent or more.

Now that the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff is down to four teams remaining — the size of the field the previous 10 seasons — things really don't look that much different. The final quartet includes two teams from the Big Ten,