College Football Playoff: Everything you need to know about the 12-team format

The four-team College Football Playoff accomplished what it set out to do for a decade: Bring the four best teams into a playoff for the national championship. The great debate, however, between the four best teams and the most deserving teams, amounted only to frustration. The solution? Expansion.

The final four-team playoff showed us all why postseason expansion was necessary for college football. Because Florida State's Jordan Travis was injured during cupcake week, the Seminoles' chances of getting in as an undefeated ACC champion were damaged considerably. Two-time reigning national champ Georgia falling to Alabama broke the camel's back.

This year, the College Football Playoff is expanding from four teams to 12, and I am sure you have questions about the format, the process and what exactly college football teams are playing for at the FBS level. Although the playoff field has tripled in size, there are plenty of rules and stipulations for who can get in, how they're seeded and what the one-of-a-kind 12-team tournament will look like. If you have questions, we have answers.

Who qualifies for the new 12-team College Football Playoff?

Of the 12 teams that will comprise the playoff field, you can consider them split into two buckets: The five highest-ranked conference champions, better known as automatic qualifiers (AQ), and the seven best remaining teams, known as at-large teams. In most seasons, the AQ spots ensure at least one Group of Five team will make the field, as well as almost certainly the Power Four.

How are College Football Playoff teams seeded under the new format?

The 12 participating teams will be chosen by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, which will release their final top 25 rankings on Dec. 8. While the playoff bracket will follow the selection committee’s rankings (with no modifications to avoid rematches or teams from the same conference), keep in mind that the one through 12 CFP seeding could look different than the final rankings. Here's how it works:

• The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four. They will receive a first-round bye.
• The fifth conference champion will be seeded where it was ranked or at No. 12 if it's ranked outside the top 12.
• Non-conference champions ranked in the top four will be seeded beginning at No. 5.

(That means a team like Notre Dame can only be a No. 5-12 seed.)

What is important to understand is that only conference champions can get a top-four seed and a first-round bye to the national quarterfinals. Those four teams will be seeded one through four based on how the selection committee views them after the conference championship games are in the book.

Where will the College Football Playoff games be played?

The first-round games will begin on Dec. 21. They will be played at the higher-ranked team's home stadium or venue of their choosing.

• No. 5 will host No. 12
• No. 6 will host No. 11
• No. 7 will host No. 10
• No. 8 will host No. 9

From there, the winners will face the four highest-ranked conference champions at neutral sites, i.e. the New Year's Six (Fiesta, Peach, Rose, Sugar, Cotton and Orange Bowls), which will host the four national quarterfinal and two national semifinal games. These six games will still be on a three-year rotating basis—so every three years, they will be a national semifinal. For the 2024-25 season, the quarterfinals are the Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar Bowls. The semifinals this postseason will be the Cotton and the Orange Bowls.

How does the Selection Committee assign College Football Playoff bowl games?

When creating the bracket, the selection committee will assign the four highest-ranked conference champions to specific bowls hosting the quarterfinals. To do so, they will consider historic bowl relationships, then rankings. So if the SEC champion is ranked No. 1 and the Big 12 champion is ranked No. 3, the SEC champion would be assigned to the Sugar Bowl (if it's hosting a quarterfinal). When it comes to semifinal bowl assignment, the highest seed will receive preferential placement.

As it was the previous 10 years, the national championship game will be played at a predetermined neutral-site location. This year, it will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, home of the Peach Bowl, SEC Championship, Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC. Normally, the CFP does a great job of putting its national title bouts in venues and cities where college football is a big deal.

How many teams can make it from one conference?

There are no limitations to how many teams can make it in the College Football Playoff from one conference, barring the inherent constraints of the format itself. For example, the SEC could conceivably get as many as seven teams in during a given season. That would mean their league champion gets in, plus six at-larges. The other four AQ spots are reserved.

College Football Playoff rankings schedule and dates

Throughout the season, the selection committee will announce the CFP top 25 on ESPN every Tuesday, beginning on Nov. 5. The final rankings will be released on Sunday, Dec. 8 (Selection Day). Here are the dates and times you need to know.

• Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. ET
• Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. ET
• Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m ET
• Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. ET
• Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. ET
• Sunday, Dec. 8 (Selection Day) at 12 p.m. ET