Whatever you need to know about the 12-team College Football

7:40 PM ET ESPN personnel Finally.A process that began with a press release on June 10, 2021, pertained to

a resolution today when the College Football Playoff announced Thursday it will broaden the sport’s postseason to 12 teams in time for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.A whole new set of challenges began this fall, when the 11 presidents and chancellors who make up the CFP’s board of managers took control of the procedure and enacted early September to expand the field to 12 groups in 2026. Since then, the presidents prompted the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick to figure out a method to do in time for the 2024 season.This week, all of it depended upon the Rose Bowl– the most storied and standard bowl– relinquishing its demand that the CFP guarantee

the bowl its conventional New Year’s Day time slot at 2 p.m. PT in the next agreement, which begins in 2026.”It’s obvious that we were down to the last minutes of the fourth quarter, “CFP executive director Costs Hancock said.”And there was no overtime.

And if we had not reached a contract, there’s no concern in my mind that we would’ve continued the four-team playoff through the 2024 and 2025 seasons. No question in my mind. But we’re here to celebrate the truth we did reach an agreement. I feel a bit like every coach who says we’re going to celebrate this for 24 hr and we’ll start on next week. That’s what will take place here. There are great deals of information to assemble for [2024], but I’m happy we get the chance to put those information together. “How did they lastly pertain to a contract with the Rose Bowl? Who benefits the most from the brand-new deal? And what comes next?Heather Dinich, Adam Rittenberg and Pete Thamel break all of it

down. What is the Rose Bowl’s function in all of this?In order for the CFP to broaden prior to the current contract ends

following the 2025 season, all celebrations had to unanimously accept it. The Rose Bowl was the last to sign up with the celebration. The conversation centered around among the most lucrative tv windows in college sports. The Rose Bowl wants to keep its exclusive broadcast window on Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. PT in years that it would also host a CFP semifinal.The Rose Bowl wanted to briefly concede its relationship with the Big Ten and Pac-12 to host a quarterfinal game in

2024 and 2025, but in return, it wanted guarantees about its time slot in the new agreement.2 Associated Laura Farber, chair of the Rose Bowl management committee, told ESPN on Thursday the committee never had any intents of avoiding early expansion and”given up that ask. “” In our negotiations, we had actually at first requested for an exclusive window around the Rose Bowl Game’s historic time slot at 2 p.m. PT on Jan. 1,” she said. “While we relinquished that

ask, the Competition of Roses is going to continue to deal with the CFP Board of Supervisors on how we will fit into that CFP playoff rotation. It’s our intent to keep the Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1, but we’ll remain versatile on scheduling as required.”The CFP didn’t wish to make any guarantees– and it still does not.”There are no guarantees for 2026 and beyond, “Hancock said. “Nothing is secured. We will address all the bowls on the same basis when that time comes.” The Rose Bowl will host the quarterfinals in 2024 and 2025 in its very same historic time window and its existing television contract. Hancock stated there hasn’t been much conversation about the next agreement, which will begin in 2026, and they will “resolve all the bowls on the very same basis. “” I would state that it would remain in everybody’s best interest for any CFP that happens in the Rose Bowl to begin around 2 p.m. PT,”he said.– Dinich How does this impact the regular-season schedule?For now, there aren’t any plans to move the season

or begin at Week 0 in the present contract, however Hancock stated discussions about it will continue. It’s less a CFP problem than it is a wholistic look at the sport’s calendar, which is something that would be gone over at the level of the commissioners.”No one is extremely far down the roadway on that, “he said.Hancock said he does not believe a 12-team field will have any substantial modifications on the regular season, other than more meaningful games in November.”The regular season has become more vital, “he said. “The game of college football is definitely extremely healthy. Look at the viewership. Take a look at the variety of people in the stands. I think this 12-team tournament will only boost that.”With the 6 highest-ranked conference champs guaranteed an area in the 12-team field, it’s possible athletic directors are more inclined to take risks in the nonconference schedule and add top quality Power 5 opponents to the slate. There will be less pressure to complete unbeaten or with one loss in the brand-new format.– Dinich What is the format?The new format would begin with the 2024 season, so we’ll have 2 more playoffs under the present format– this year and next year.The field will make up the choice committee’s 6 highest-ranked conference champions and its next six highest-ranked groups. The 4 highest-ranked conference champs will make the top seeds and a first-round bye. The other 8 teams will play in the first round, with the greater seeds hosting the lower seeds on campus or at another site of their

choice.The preliminary of the playoff in 2024 will occur the week of Dec. 21, likely late because week. The specific dates will be revealed later.For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the 4 quarterfinal games and two semifinal games will be played in bowls on a turning basis. The 2024 quarterfinals will happen in the Carnival Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the semifinals. The 2025 quarterfinals will occur in the Cotton, Orange, Rose and Sugar, while the Fiesta and Peach will host the semifinals.The national championship games will be played Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta, and Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami.– Dinich How a 12-team playoff would look today Championship week games and the final playoff rankings for this year are still to come, however based upon the existing CFP rankings, a broadened playoff would look like this: Seeds with byes 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. TCU 4. USC Remaining seeds(conference champs in vibrant)5. Ohio State 6. Alabama 7.

Tennessee 8. Penn State 9. Clemson 10. Kansas State 11. Utah 12. Tulane First-round 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 Quarterfinal games No. 9 Clemson-No. 8 Penn State winner vs. No. 1 Georgia No. 10 Kansas State-No. 7 Tennessee winner vs. No. 2 Michigan No. 11 Utah-No. 6 Alabama winner vs. No. 3 TCU No. 12 Tulane-No. 5 Ohio State winner vs. No. 4
USC

How did they end up
at 12 over 8 or 16? There has actually always been strong assistance at both the governmental and commissioner level for 12 teams
, and part of
it is since they like the first-round byes for the top 4 seeds, however also since of

the practical logistics in the overall
college football calendar. While there were some who a minimum of wanted to think about the possibility of a 16-team format, there just wasn’t

enough interest. “You start coming down into some of the details and logistics … and after that somebody said,’ Well, why can’t we think about other options?'”Mississippi State president and CFP board chair Mark Keenum stated in September. “Well, I’ll state this, all of the presidents think that the

12-team format is the best thing to do, for this time, at this minute.”– Dinich How does this affect future conference realignment?The biggest reverberation is that the six at-large quotes will function as a lure to keep Notre Dame independent in the immediate future. With clear playoff access and NBC appearing motivated to keep Notre Dame now that it has a piece of the Big Ten, the 2 biggest tentpoles to Irish independence appear set for the immediate future.As for the rest of college football, this is an interesting question. The cash space in between the Big 10 and SEC and the rest of the leagues stays big. There will always be motivated schools jockeying to sign up with those leagues. However the fact that there will be automated quotes for the top six conference champions includes a layer of certainty to leagues like the Pac-12 and Big 12 that

have actually been hurt by current defections. Holistically, it assists the

sport. Adjustment would take place unassociated to playoff gain access to.– Thamel Who benefits most from an expanded playoff? Does it injure anyone?The SEC has had one of the most appearances( 10), wins(14)and championships (five)during the CFP era, and likely will enhance its share of the field with as much as seven available slots. Although commissioner Greg Sankey repeatedly stated the league was fine with a four-team playoff, the number of CFP-capable programs in his league, plus the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, increased the requirement for gain access to. The Big 10 likewise stands to benefit, as the league has packed the top 12 of the last CFP standings however has actually had only 6 overall appearances by three teams in the four-team model. How will Saturday’s top games impact the College Football Playoff chase? What

are the present chances for the top four? The Allstate Playoff Predictor has the responses. Inspect back weekly as the odds are upgraded following that week’s games. The model likewise marks a substantial win for the Group of 5 conferences, which produced their very first CFP individual in the four-team system in 2015(Cincinnati)and all supported the 12-team proposal. At least one Group of 5 program will make the 12-team playoff each year, and the enhanced profiles of leagues such as the AAC and Sun Belt increase the opportunities of 2 Group of 5 participants in some years. Although Group of 5 individuals likely will be roadway groups playing in first-round matches, they finally have a real seat at the table.The vote is good news for Notre Dame, which will have 6 access points instead of four. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick was part of the four-man working group that in June 2021 presented the 12-team model, which was later adopted. He stayed an ardent supporter and ally to Sankey and others during the tense commissioner conferences that followed.There are no obvious losers in a broadened playoff,

although the annual distribution of groups could reinforce the space between the SEC and the Big Ten and the other power conferences. A model guaranteeing areas for the 6 highest-rated conference champions produces the possibility of leagues such as the Pac-12, Big 12 or ACC being excluded totally, which would sting in several ways. The Pac-12 hasn’t had a CFP group given that 2016, while the Huge 12’s only CFP participant, Oklahoma, quickly will depart for the SEC. But a postseason system that triples the number of areas should, in theory, help every power league.

— Rittenberg Is this the last time we see playoff expansion? One of lots of unanswered concerns is for how long the next contract will be, which will help figure out how devoted the presidents are to this format. The existing agreement was 12 years, with the four-team playoff in place for 10. If there’s one thing that’s certain about college athletics, it’s that nothing is

specific for any length of time.” Will we always be at a 12-team [format] I can’t answer that,”Keenum said in September.”We continue to search for methods to further enhance the playoff going forward. … And my goodness, I have a head football coach [Mike Leach] who believes we ought to have a 64-team playoff. I imply, that’s what he believes, so my point exists’s always going to be space for improvement.”– Dinich