https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2023/0411/1376399-championship-permutations-field-for-sam-taking-shape/The basics are:
• 16 teams will qualify for the seeded four-team groups that comprise the All-Ireland SFC group stages.
• Eight of those places are reserved for the provincial finalists. The next eight come from the final league rankings, which take promotion/relegation and league finals into account.
• Although ranked 20th after the league, as last year’s Tailteann Cup winners, Westmeath will take one of the 16 places.
There is some confusion that if Westmeath reached the Leinster final that would somehow open up another spot, but a place is only reserved for the Tailteann Cup winners if they haven’t already qualified. So, Westmeath will be taking the place of a higher-ranked team regardless and making the Leinster final would just mean a higher seeding for them in the group phase.
The top 16-ranked teams from the league were: 1. Mayo, 2. Galway, 3. Roscommon, 4. Tyrone, 5. Kerry, 6. Monaghan, 7. Dublin, 8. Derry, 9. Armagh, 10. Donegal, 11. Louth, 12. Cork, 13. Kildare, 14. Meath, 15. Cavan, 16. Fermanagh.
Clare’s Munster quarter-final win over Cork on Sunday means that the Banner (17th) or their semi-final opponents Limerick (18th) will take one of the 16 Sam Maguire spots. History-makers New York or Sligo (23rd) will take another, as will Westmeath .
That means Division 2 side Meath are now effectively ranked 17th and will have to reach the Leinster final to make the All-Ireland series.
Kildare (now 16th) would drop to the Tailteann Cup if the Royals (or Offaly) did make the Leinster decider, unless the Lilywhites also reached the provincial final by coming through the side of the draw containing Dublin. In that somewhat unlikely scenario, Cork would be the team to miss out.
Even if Louth or Westmeath take care of their Leinster rivals, Kildare also have to worry about Cavan or Fermanagh reaching the Ulster final, and the more remote prospect of Tipperary shocking Kerry in Munster.
Kildare will therefore be hoping Derry get off to a good start in their Ulster SFC defence against Fermanagh on Saturday but we can expect a few more twists before the final line-ups for the summer are confirmed.
If we were somehow to end up with both a Cavan v Fermanagh Ulster final and a Meath-Kildare Leinster decider then even Donegal, just relegated from Division 1, would end up in the Tailteann Cup.
League champions Mayo will be in the All-Ireland series, as third seeds, despite their defeat to Roscommon but the seven other teams who lost at the weekend will definitely play in the Tailteann: Antrim, Carlow, Leitrim, London, Longford, Waterford and Wexford.
The 17-team tournament (Kilkenny play in the JFC) is being played on a similar format to the Sam Maguire: four four-team groups, with the group winners advancing directly to quarter-finals. The four second-placed teams and three best third-placed teams, plus New York, will then contest preliminary quarter-finals.
However, if New York beat Sligo, then the Exiles will participate in the All-Ireland series instead and one of the Tailteann Cup groups will contain five teams, with all four third-placed teams reaching preliminary quarter-finals.
