How does College Football Playoff work? Rules, dates, more

• Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior WriterMay 27, 2024, 09:00 AM ET Close College football
• press reporter Signed up with ESPN.com in 2007
• Graduate of Indiana University

For the first time in a years, college football has changed the method it determines its champ. In case you have actually been living off the grid, the field will expand from four to 12 teams in the fall of 2024.

The 13-member selection committee remains in place, and its objective is basically the like it’s always been, according to the College Football Playoff:

“The selection committee’s job will be to choose the best groups, rank the groups for addition in the playoff and selected other bowl games and after that designate the groups to sites.”

Here’s whatever you need to know about how that will in fact work.Who certifies

for the college football playoff?The five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams will make a spot in the 12-team bracket. There is no limit to the number of teams from one conference can qualify. The rules likewise don’t guarantee areas for specific conferences. The champs of the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten will likely routinely certify, however, in addition to the highest-ranked champion from the Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt, Mid-American Conference or Conference USA.There is no minimum ranking requirement for the 5 highest-ranked conference champions.

There could be a conference champ ranked No. 23, for example, that’s the 5th highest-ranked league winner and earns a spot in the playoff– at the expenditure of the committee’s No. 12 team.How does the seeding work?The four highest-ranked conference champions will earn the leading four seeds and get a

first-round bye. The other 8 groups will play in the first round, with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on school or”at other websites designated by the higher-seeded institution.”That suggests any team that doesn’t make the luxury of a first-round bye will need to win 4 straight games to win the championship game. If a team lost in its conference championship game and played in four straight championship game, it would have played an unmatched overall of 17 games.Editor’s Picks

Beware not to confuse the seeding with the selection committee’s ranking. The 13-member committee will still release its weekly top 25, which will be used to figure out the highest-ranked conference champs. That means, however, that if Georgia wins the SEC and is ranked No. 1 by the choice committee, and Alabama loses that game and is No. 3 in the CFP ranking– and even No. 2!– the Tide will be seeded No. 5 behind 3 other conference champs and Georgia.

(Read that again, please.)

Any independent like Notre Dame can not make a first-round bye since it can not win a conference title. That likewise applies to Washington State and Oregon State, which have a temporary scheduling arrangement with the Mountain West and can contend for the national championship however aren’t eligible to win the MWC and do not constitute a league of their own, per NCAA and CFP rules.Once the teams are seeded on Choice Day, the seeds are final. There won’t be any reseeding.What about rematches?There will not be any modifications made to avoid rematches or games between schools from the very same conference.How does the bracket work?First round(all home games )Friday, Dec. 20, and Saturday, Dec. 21 No. 12 seed at No. 5 seed No. 9 seed at No. 8 seed No. 11 seed at No. 6 seed No. 10 seed at No.

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Ranking NFL rookie QB supporting casts “More ESPN+ content” Quarterfinals Tuesday, Dec. 31, and Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 No. 4 seed plays the winner
of No. 12 vs. No. 5 No. 1 seed plays winner of No. 9 vs. No. 8 No. 3 seed plays winner of No. 11 vs. No. 6 No. 2 seed plays winner No. 10 vs. No. 7 Semifinals

Thursday, Jan.

9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl(evening)Friday

, Jan. 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic(evening

)CFP Championship Game Monday, Jan. 20, 2025:

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Atlanta What do I need to learn about the selection committee?There are six former coaches and players in the

group, 6 sitting athletic directors representing 7 conferences(consisting of one from each Power 4 league)and one former sportswriter:

Michigan athletic director Warde

Manuel( committee chair )Nevada coach Chris Ault Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk Previous Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe Miami(Ohio)athletic director David Sayler Previous sportswriter Kelly Whiteside Previous All-American Nebraska lineman Will Shields Former Toledo and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades Virginia athletic director Carla Williams Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek Previous Oregon

State and Nebraska coach Mike Riley Previous

Arizona State All-American guard Randall

McDaniel For how long are their terms? Committee members

serve three-year terms. Get your favorite live sports,

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When do they satisfy? The committee members satisfy every Monday and part of Tuesday morning to figure out each of their 6 weekly rankings

, beginning on Nov. 5. What is their procedure? When circumstances suggest

that groups are equivalent, committee members should consider: Championships won Strength of schedule Head-to-head competition Relative outcomes of typical opponents(without incenting margin of victory)Other relevant aspects such as unavailability of essential players and coaches that might have impacted a group’s performance throughout the season or likely will affect its postseason efficiency These factors are not weighted,

and an individual committee member can position a greater value on one aspect than the person sitting beside them might.What is their recusal policy?If a committee member or an immediate relative is(a) compensated by a school,(b)supplies professional services for a school or (c)is on the

• coaching staff or administrative

  staff or is a player at a school, that committee member will be recused. Recused members

  aren’t enabled to elect those groups and are enabled just to answer factual concerns about that school. Recused committee members aren’t enabled to be in the space throughout any considerations about that team’s choice or seeding. They likewise aren’t enabled to take part in conversations about what championship game that team might be

designated to.How is the ballot done?The ballot is done electronically on the members’ specific laptops and is done by secret ballot. Nobody understands how anybody else in the space voted unless they choose to share that. Ballot generally consists of about seven rounds of tallies. The citizens start with a small swimming pool of groups, rank them and begin with the top-ranked teams put in the rankings in groups of three or four. They continue to duplicate that procedure till 25 teams have been ranked.What metrics do they use?There isn’t one metric that makes a team its spot over another. Instead, it’s a subjective analysis of a variety of data offered to the committee members from a business called SportSource Analytics. Each FBS team has a”group sheet” with its data and schedule strength noted, along with its situational record( i.e., 3-1 vs. present CFP Leading 25 teams).

There are ranks for offense

, defense, unique teams and efficiencies.How are teams appointed to bowl games?The New Year’s 6 championship game– Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Feast and Peach bowls– are still a part of the CFP. For the quarterfinal games, the committee will appoint the 4 highest-ranked conference champs to 4 of those bowls on Choice Day right away after the bracket has actually been set. Those groups will be slotted with consideration of historic bowl relationships and seeding.The No. 1 seed will earn preferential treatment for its bowl slot and

will not be put at a geographical

drawback. Just recently, the Sugar Bowl has actually had a legal agreement with the SEC and the Big 12, while the Rose keeps a relationship with the Big Ten(or Washington State and Oregon State from what’s left of the Pac-12). The Orange hosts a semifinal this year, along with the Cotton Bowl.When are the rankings?The selection committee will release its very first of six rankings on Nov. 5. They are released each following Tuesday.The final ranking will be launched on Dec. 8. When are the College Football Playoff games?First Round(on school )Friday, Dec. 20, 2024: one game(

evening )Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024: three games (early afternoon, late afternoon and night)Quarterfinals Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl(early afternoon), Rose Championship game(late afternoon )and Allstate Sugar Bowl(evening)Semifinals Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl(night)Friday, Jan. 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic( evening)CFP National Championship Monday, Jan. 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Arena, Atlanta