College Football 12 Team Playoffs: Schedule, Dates, Bracket, History & Functioning

There will only be one more season of the College Football Playoffs as we know it after this one. The Playoff will grow from a four-team field to a 12-team field starting with the 2024 season. The playoffs of college football will undergo significant change as a result, and many new teams will have a chance to compete for the national championship.

How will the 12-team College Football Playoff work?

The six highest-ranked conference champions will get automatic berths under the new system. The remaining six teams with the highest rankings will then make up the field.

The top four conference champions advance unopposed to the quarterfinals in the first round. In the first round, the No. 5 seed will face No. 12, No. 6 will face No. 11, No. 7 will face No. 10, and No. 8 will face No. 9. The lower seed has the home-field advantage during the first round of games, which are not played at neutral venues.

In the quarterfinal round, which is not reseeded, bowl games are first introduced. Therefore, even if a lower seed is still in the field, the No. 1 seed will face the winner of the No. 8-No. 9 matchup.

The Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl are quarterfinal games in the 2024 CFP, and the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl are semifinal games.

The quarterfinals in 2025 will take place in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl, with the semifinals taking place in the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl.

12-team College Football Playoff start date

Following a deal from the Rose Bowl, the new College Football Playoff model will start in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, changing the terms of the Playoff’s current contract with ESPN as the exclusive broadcaster of the college football postseason.

After the existing arrangement with the College Football Playoff, the expansion was supposed to begin in 2026; but, with the Rose Bowl’s agreement, it can now happen earlier. On Thursday, the College Football Playoff formally announced that the expansion will take place between 2024 and 2025.

“We’re delighted to be moving forward,” Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, said per the release. “When the board expanded the playoff beginning in 2026 and asked the CFP Management Committee to examine the feasibility of starting the new format earlier, the Management Committee went right to work. More teams and more access mean more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student-athletes. We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future national championship game host cities for their cooperation. Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen.”

College Football Playoff Schedule

2024

First round (one-campus games)

  • Friday, Dec. 20 (one game)
  • Saturday, Dec. 21 (three games)

Quarterfinals

  • Tuesday, Dec. 31 (Fiesta Bowl)
  • Wednesday, Jan. 1 (Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl)

Semifinals

  • Thursday, Jan. 9 (Orange Bowl)
  • Friday, Jan. 10 (Cotton Bowl)

Championship

  • Monday, Jan. 20 (CFP national championship)

2025

First round (one-campus games)

  • Friday, Dec. 19 (one game)
  • Saturday, Dec. 20 (three games)

Quarterfinals

  • Wednesday, Dec. 31 (Cotton Bowl)
  • Thursday, Jan. 1 (Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl)

Semifinals

  • Thursday, Jan. 8 (Fiesta Bowl)
  • Friday, Jan. 9 (Beach Bowl)

Championship

  • Monday, Jan. 19 (CFP national championship)

Playoff bracket

Below is what the first and quarterfinal rounds of the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket will look like:

First round

  • No. 1 team (bye)
  • No. 2 team (bye)
  • No. 3 team (bye)
  • No. 4 team (bye)
  • No. 12 team at No. 5 team
  • No. 11 team at No. 6 team
  • No. 10 team at No. 7 team
  • No. 9 team at No. 8 team

Quarterfinals

  • No. 1 team vs. No. 8/9 team
  • No. 2 team vs. No. 7/10 team
  • No. 3 team vs. No. 6/11 team
  • No. 4 team vs. No. 5/12 team

What would the Playoff look like?

Seed Team How they made it
1 Georgia SEC champion
2 Michigan Big Ten champion
3 TCU Big 12 champion
4 USC Pac-12 champion
5 Ohio State At-large (Big Ten)
6 Alabama At-large (SEC)
7 Tennessee At-large (SEC)
8 Penn State At-large (Big Ten)
9 Clemson ACC champion
10 Kansas State At-large (Big 12)
11 Utah At-large (Pac-12)
12 Tulane AAC champion

The top four seeds would consist of:

  • No. 1 Georgia
  • No. 2 Michigan
  • No. 3 TCU
  • No. 4 USC

The first round would consist of the following games:

  • No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Ohio State
  • No. 11 Utah at No. 6 Alabama
  • No. 10 Kansas State at No. 7 Tennessee
  • No. 9 Clemson at No. 8 Penn State

The quarterfinals would consist of the following games before the Playoff advanced to the semifinals and national championship game:

  • No. 1 Georgia vs. Penn State/Clemson
  • No. 2 Michigan vs. Tennessee/Kansas State
  • No. 3 TCU vs. Alabama/Utah
  • No. 4 USC vs. Ohio State/Tulane

History of the College Football Playoff

Year Games
2014 Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Ohio State 42, No. 1 Alabama 35
Rose Bowl: No. 2 Oregon 59, No. 3 Florida State 20
Championship: No. 4 Ohio State 42, No. 2 Oregon 20
2015 Orange Bowl: No. 1 Clemson 37, No. 4 Oklahoma 17
Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Alabama 39, No. 3 Michigan State 0
Championship: No. 2 Alabama 45, No. 1 Clemson 40
2016 Peach Bowl: No. 1 Alabama 24, No. 4 Washington 7
Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Clemson 31, No. 3 Ohio State 0
Championship: No. 2 Clemson 35, No. 1 Alabama 31
2017 Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Alabama 24, No. 1 Clemson 6
Rose Bowl: No. 3 Georgia 54, No. 2 Oklahoma 48 (2OT)
Championship: No. 2 Alabama 26, No. 3 Georgia 23 (OT)
2018 Orange Bowl: No. 1 Alabama 45, No. 4 Oklahoma 34
Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Clemson 30, No. 3 Notre Dame 3
Championship: No. 2 Clemson 44, No. 1 Alabama 16
2019 Peach Bowl: No. 1 LSU 63, No. 4 Oklahoma 28
Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Clemson 29, No. 2 Ohio State 23
Championship: No. 1 LSU 42, No. 3 Clemson 25
2020 Rose Bowl: No. 1 Alabama 31, No. 4 Notre Dame 14
Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Ohio State 49, No. 2 Clemson 28
Championship: No. 1 Alabama 52, No. 3 Ohio State 24
2021 Cotton Bowl: No. 1 Alabama 24, No. 4 Cincinnati 6
Orange Bowl: No. 3 Georgia 34, No. 2 Michigan 11
Championship: No. 3 Georgia 33, No. 1 Alabama 18

 

 

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