how the 12 team playoff will work

 Well, in 24 hours' time, the first college football game of the year will be played in Dublin, Ireland with FS and Georgia Tech, so let's delve in to how the 12-team playoffs will go.

Participating teams will be the five conference champions ranked highest by the CFP selection committee, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams.

• The ranking of the teams will continue to be done by a selection committee.

 

• The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and will receive a first-round bye. The fifth conference champion will be seeded where it was ranked or at No. 12 if it is outside the top 12 rankings. Non-conference champions ranked in the top four will be seeded beginning at No. 5. Because of this, the seeding, 1 through 12, could look different from the final rankings.
  
  
• The eight teams seeded No. 5-12 will play in the first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No. 8.).

      

• The selection committee will assign the four highest-ranked conference champions to the Playoff Quarterfinals hosted by bowls. This will be done in consideration of historical bowl relationships, then in consideration of rankings. For example, if the Sugar Bowl hosts a Playoff Quarterfinal and the SEC champion is ranked No. 1 and the Big 12 champion is ranked No. 3, the SEC champion would be assigned to the Sugar Bowl and the Big 12 champion would be assigned elsewhere.

     

     

• With the four highest-ranked conference champions assigned to bowls, their four Playoff Quarterfinal opponents will be dictated by the bracket (i.e., No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 winner, No. 4 vs. No. 5/12 winner, No. 2 vs. 7/10 winner; No. 3 vs. 6/11 winner.) 

 

• The College Football Playoff bracket will follow the selection committee’s rankings, with no modifications made to avoid rematches between teams that may have played during the regular season or are from the same conference.

The bracket will remain in effect throughout the playoffs (i.e., no re-seeding). The highest seed will receive preferential placement for the Playoff Semifinal bowl assignment. All 11 games will be under the CFP umbrella with the administrative policies determined by the CFP.

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