2024 College Football Playoff guide: What to know about the new 12-team format, at-large bids

The 12-team College Football Playoff era has officially begun, and with it, a host of details with which fans will need to familiarize themselves. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the sport’s new postseason. Feel free to bookmark and reference as December draws near.

Why the new postseason?

For most of its century-plus existence, college football had a “mythical national champion.” The sport’s season champion was determined after teams played in bowl games by various polls and rankings, which, of course, led to significant debate. In 1998, college football introduced the often-controversial Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, which utilized a mix of rankings and computer methodology to ensure that its No. 1 vs. No. 2 teams met in a bowl game.

In 2012, leaders of the BCS approved the College Football Playoff, which launched in 2014 as a four-team postseason knockout tournament. Because debate and controversy are at the soul of college football, it was decided that the four-team field would be chosen by a 13-person selection committee, comprised of various conference commissioners and athletic directors. And because only four teams would make the postseason, one major Power 5 conference would get left out.

The CFP upheld the prestige of the bowl games around New Year’s Eve and Day and added the Peach and Cotton bowls to the slate to comprise the New Year’s Six, as they are still called. For several years the postseason carried on, until talks in earnest about expansion picked up in the last three years. After many discussions about possible iterations, a 12-team postseason tournament was approved in September 2022.

How will the teams be selected for the 12-team field?

That 13-person selection committee, as it did in the four-team era, will rank its top-25 teams weekly, beginning Nov. 5 and culminating on Dec. 8. The panel consists of current athletic directors and school administrators, and former coaches and players, all of whom are supposed to evaluate the teams based on schedule strength, head-to-head results and their own subjective opinions. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel is the new chairman.

The big difference in the new format is that the committee’s five highest-ranked conference champions receive guaranteed berths. While not set in writing, it’s presumed they will go to the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC champions, as well as the highest-ranked champion from the Group of 5 leagues (AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt).

The other seven bids go to the highest-ranked teams that did not win their conference.

How will those 12 teams be slotted into the bracket?

The four highest-ranked champions will receive the top four seeds, regardless of where they fall in the rankings. If, say, the ACC champion is 10-3 and ranked No. 11 by the committee, and is ranked higher than a No. 14-ranked Group of 5 champion, it would not drop below the No. 4 seed. Conversely, if an SEC team is 12-1 and ranked No. 3 but lost in the conference title game, the highest it could be seeded is No. 5.

Seeds 1-4 will be incredibly important because those teams have a first-round bye.

What about Notre Dame and other independents?

Independents cannot earn a higher seed than No. 5, and therefore cannot receive a bye.

How do Washington State and Oregon State make the Playoff?

“The Pac-2” are not eligible for a conference championship. The Cougars and the Beavers must finish the season ranked high enough for an at-large berth.

When and where will the first round be?

The conference championships this season will be played across Dec. 6 and Dec. 7. The first round will be held two weekends later, with one game on Friday, Dec. 20 (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN), and three on Saturday, Dec. 21 (Noon and 4 p.m., ET on TNT, 8 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN).

This will be the only round with games played at campus stadiums. With the top-four seeds on byes, the No. 5 seed will host the No. 12 seed, No. 6 hosts No. 11, No. 7 hosts No. 10 and No. 8 hosts No. 9.

Will these be more like a regular home game or an NCAA tournament venue?

Definitely the former. CFP executive director Richard Clark said visiting teams will only receive around 3,500 tickets. “We want it to feel like a home game,” he said. “You (the higher seed) earned that opportunity.”

Given the quick turnaround between Selection Sunday and the first games, the CFP has already booked hotel blocks for the visiting team near FBS schools with a realistic shot of hosting and will release rooms as teams fall out of contention.

Will the bracket be reseeded after the first round, like in the NFL?

No. The No. 1 seed will play the 8-9 winner, the No. 2 seed will play the 7-10 winner, the No. 3 seed will play the 6-11 winner and the No. 4 seed will play the 5-12 winner.

It’s very likely the No. 5 seed, the best of all the at-large teams, will be a higher-ranked team than the No. 4 seed, itself either the lowest-ranked Power 4 champion or the Group of 5 champion.

When and where will the quarterfinals be played?

The four quarterfinal games and both semifinals will be played at current New Year’s Six bowls (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton and Peach). As in the four-team era, the bowls will rotate hosting the semifinal matchups.

This year, the Fiesta (Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET), Peach (Jan. 1, 1 p.m.), Rose (Jan. 1, 5 p.m.) and Sugar (Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m. ET) are the four quarterfinal hosts.

How do they decide which teams play in which bowls?  

Whenever possible, the teams will be assigned to their conference’s traditional bowl partner. If the SEC or Big 12 champion is the No. 1 seed, it will go to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the Big Ten champion to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The others will be slotted based on geographic proximity.

For example, if the No. 3 seed is closer to Atlanta than Glendale, Ariz., it will be placed at the Peach Bowl, and then the No. 4 seed heads to the Fiesta.

Will the teams still experience a traditional bowl week?

Sadly, the days of teams spending a week in L.A. before the Rose Bowl, eating Lawry’s Beef and gallivanting at Disneyland, may be over. They’ll arrive at the quarterfinal sites on Dec. 29, practice on the 30th, hold a walk-through on the 31st and play the games on Jan. 1. The semifinal stays will be one day shorter than that.

When are the semifinals?

The semifinals are Jan. 9 (Orange) and Jan. 10 (Cotton), both on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET. With the NFL’s six-game Wild Card round that weekend, the CFP had little choice but to play on a Thursday and Friday night.

Is there any chance they’ll eventually move the quarterfinals and semifinals to campuses?

Not likely in the near future. Earlier this year, ESPN and the CFP agreed to a six-year, $7.8 billion extension that runs through the 2031-32 season. While the long-form contract has not yet been finalized, it’s expected to include the same six bowls.

“We are committed to our bowl partners,” said Clark. “They’re as much a part of college football as anything.”

One possible wrinkle after the current contract ends in 2026: The Rose Bowl has asked to be left out of the semifinal rotation going forward in favor of keeping its traditional New Year’s Day time slot. If granted, it would host a quarterfinal every year.

When is the national championship game?

The title game will be played on a Monday night, as it has since 2006 — only it’s now two weeks later. This year’s national championship is at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and will be played on Jan. 20, 2025 (7:30 p.m., ESPN). Next year’s is on Jan. 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Locations beyond that have not been announced.

How do they divide up the money?

This year and next fall under the CFP’s original 12-year deal with ESPN. In 2023-24, the distribution was $82.2 million for each of the Power 5 conferences, a combined $103 million split among the Group of 5 leagues, $3.9 million to Notre Dame and $940,000 to the other independents.

With the demise and fallout of the Pac-12, the CFP adjusted the formula so that each conference’s per-school average remains roughly the same.

Will the tournament expand to 14 teams next?

The possibility of an expanded bracket came up earlier this year when the commissioners met to discuss whether to sign off on the ESPN extension. Specifically, Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti was advocating for more teams. Those discussions have been “tabled” until after this year’s Playoff.

“After we see how this season goes, we’ll look at a lot of different things,” said Clark. “The 14-team Playoff is just an option, but we just have to see how the 12 goes.”

In other words, you may need another primer in two years’ time.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic)