How does the expanded 12-team CFP work?
When college football first adopted a playoff system back in 2014 only four teams were selected for the field. Those four teams then matched up in semifinal games, with the winners moving on to the championship game. For the 2024 season, though, the College Football Playoff now includes 12 teams.
So how exactly does the 12-team College Football Playoff work? And when will the games be played?
Eleven games for dozen teams in the field
The dozen teams that make the field for the College Football Playoff beginning this season will include the five conference champions with the highest rankings plus the next seven highest teams in the rankings. From there the four conference champions with the highest rankings will be awarded first-round byes, meaning they won’t have to play a game until the quarterfinal round of the College Football Playoff.
The other eight teams will participate in the four first-round matchups, with those winners advancing to face the four teams that earned first-round byes in the quarterfinals. The winners of those four games will then compete in the semifinals, and the winners of the semifinals will play for the championship.
The first-round games will be held at the home stadiums of the higher-ranked teams (or at an alternative stadium of their choosing). The quarterfinals this year will be staged as the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl, while the semifinals will be staged as the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl – those six major bowls will then rotate the quarterfinal and semifinal matchups in future playoffs.
The College Football Playoff championship game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Matchups get underway on December 20
The College Football Playoff first-round matchups will be played on Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21, with the quarterfinals set for Tuesday, December 31 and Wednesday, January 1, and the semifinals on Thursday, January 9 and Friday, January 10. The title game will be on Monday, January 20.
Here’s a look at the complete schedule for the 2024 College Football Playoff, which begins December 20:
First Round Game 1 – December 20 @ 8:00pm ET
First Round Game 2 – December 21 @ 12:00pm ET
First Round Game 3 – December 21 @ 4:00pm ET
First Round Game 4 – December 21 @ 8:00pm ET
Quarterfinal / Fiesta Bowl – December 31 @ 7:30pm ET
Quarterfinal / Peach Bowl – January 1 @ 1:00pm ET
Quarterfinal / Rose Bowl – January 1 @ 5:00pm ET
Quarterfinal / Sugar Bowl – January 1 @ 8:45pm ET
Semifinal / Orange Bowl – January 9 @ 7:30pm ET
Semifinal / Cotton Bowl – January 10 @ 7:30pm ET
CFP National Championship – January 20 @ 7:30pm ET
The field for this year’s College Football Playoff will be announced by the selection committee on December 8. The broadcasts for the first-round games will be split between ABC/ESPN and TNT at two games apiece, and the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game will all be televised by ESPN.
With zero championships between his MLB, NHL, and NFL teams over the last 30 years, Dave keeps one foot in the past while shaking his fist at the present. Having provided content to all manner of sports websites over a 20-year career in the industry, Dave brings to Attiq an eye for all things editorial and a disdain for all things New York Yankees. Click here for Dave's posts.