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

For the first time in a decade, college football has changed the way it determines its champion. In case you've 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 mission is essentially the same as it's always been, according to the College Football Playoff:

«The selection committee's task will be to select the best teams, rank the teams for inclusion in the playoff and assign the teams to the playoff sites.»

Here's everything you need to know about how that will actually work.

The five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams will earn a spot in the 12-team bracket. There is no limit to how many teams from one conference can qualify. The rules also don't guarantee spots for certain conferences. The champions of the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten will almost certainly routinely qualify, though, along with 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 five highest-ranked conference champions. There could be a conference champion ranked No. 23, for example, that's the fifth highest-ranked league winner and earns a spot in the playoff — at the expense of the committee's No. 12 team.

The four highest-ranked conference champions will earn the top four seeds and receive a first-round bye. The other eight teams 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.»

That means any team that doesn't earn the luxury of a first-round bye will have to win four