The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason tournament for NCAA Division I FBS. In 2014, the format changed from the BCS National Championship to a four-team single-elimination tournament. Despite initial backlash, this format has held strong for ten years, and college football fans have grown to appreciate it.
Heading into the 2024/25 season, the CFP is expanding to a 12-team format. This change was voted on and passed by the CFP Board of Managers before the start of the previous season. This arrangement is set to last for at least two years but is likely to expand again before the 2026 season.
The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff will begin with the first CFP First Round game on Friday, December 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. First round action will continue on Saturday, December 21, as TNT Sports will present games at noon and 4 p.m., while ABC and ESPN… pic.twitter.com/jguCxsd4LK
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 5, 2024
What will the new 12-team format look like?
One of the more unique features of the expanded CFP is that the five highest ranked conference champions will receive automatic bids. No specific conference is guaranteed an automatic bid; it depends solely on the rankings. For teams that aren't conference champions, there's still hope: the top seven highest-ranked teams will earn at-large bids.
Under the twelve-team format, the top four conference champions based on CFP rankings will receive first-round byes. The remaining teams will match up, with seeds 5, 6, 7, and 8 hosting playoff games in the first round. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held as the traditional New Year's Six bowl games.
The championship game will continue to be held at a neutral site. Throughout the playoffs, there will not be any reseeding. This 12-team playoff will last around a month, beginning in December and finishing about two weeks into the new year.
With less than a month until kickoff in 2024, the anticipation is building, and the 12-team playoff is set to provide new opportunities. The college football postseason might start to feel more like March Madness, with the potential for underdogs to make Cinderella runs. As teams report to practice, they'll all have one goal in mind: earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.