How does new CFP work? Explaining 12-team College Football Playoff, schedule, predictions

Let the playoffs commence — well sort of.

In roughly 12 hours from now, the first of six College Football Playoff rankings will be released. Tuesday's unveiling comes with a lot of build-up and anticipation as this is the first year with a 12-team playoff format.

Oregon is likely to be the No. 1 seed in the CFP's first rankings as the Ducks (9-0 overall, 6-0 in Big Ten) enter Week 11 as the No. 1 ranked team in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll for the third consecutive week.

Compared to the past College Football Playoffs, the year's expanded 12-team field allows for some breathing room and margin of error for teams that have one loss on their resumes. It's also possible that a team can get into the 12-team CFP this year with two losses.

With that, here's what you need to know about the new College Football Playoff format, including how many teams will be part of it, how it will work, what bowl games will be included in it and more:

Watch first CFP rankings release show live with Fubo (free trial)

How many teams are in 2024-25 College Football Playoff?

The College Football Playoff will be expanded from four teams to 12 this year, a first in the College Football Playoff era. The field will include five automatic qualifiers and seven at-larges.

How does College Football Playoff format work?

In addition to the expanded field, this year's College Football Playoff format will also include first-round byes, automatic bids and home games for the first time in the CFP era.

The four highest-ranked of these teams will be seeded 1-4 and given a first-round bye. If the Group of Five champion is not among the top 12 teams in the final poll, it will be slotted in at the No. 12 spot.

From there, seven at-large teams will make up the remainder of the field, beginning with the No. 5 team. Seeds 5-12 will play in first-round games either at the home of the higher-ranked team or at another location if the higher-ranked team chooses.

No. 5 will host No. 12; No. 6 will host No. 11; No. 7 will host No. 10; and No. 8 will host No. 9. From there, winners of the first-round games will advance to the quarterfinals to take on the top four seeds.

Of note: Once the final bracket has been revealed, there will be no "re-seeding" to ensure the highest-ranked team faces the lowest-ranked remaining team. That means No. 1 will play the winner of the No. 8/9 game; No. 2 will play No. 7/10; No. 3 will play No. 6/11 and No. 4 will play No. 5/12.

The CFP committee also will not make special arrangements to ensure teams that met in the regular season will avoid playing in the postseason.

College Football Playoff schedule

First-round games in the College Football Playoff will take place on Friday, Dec. 20 and Saturday, Dec. 21 at the campuses of the higher-seeded at-large teams.

The four quarterfinal games – which will be contested on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day– will be played at the site of the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona; the site of the Peach Bowl in Atlanta; the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California; and the site of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

The semifinals of the CFP will take place on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 at Hard Rock Stadium (Orange Bowl) in Miami Gardens, Florida, and then Friday, Jan. 10 at AT&T Stadium (Cotton Bowl) in Arlington, Texas.

The national championship game will take place on Monday, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

First round (games campus sites)

• Friday, Dec. 20, 2024: One game

• Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024: Three games

Quarterfinals

• Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (State Farm Stadium — Glendale, Arizona)

• Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Atlanta), Rose Bowl Game (Rose Bowl — Pasadena, California) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (Caesars Superdome — New Orleans)

Semifinals

• Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl (Hard Rock Stadium — Miami)

• Friday, Jan. 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (AT&T Stadium — Arlington, Texas)

National championship

• Monday, Jan. 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)

REQUIRED READING: Ohio State win, Iowa State loss headline college football Week 10 winners and losers

What bowl games are in the CFP?

The quarterfinal games this year will take place in the Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls — with the highest-ranked team owning the right to decide which bowl game they would like to play in. The semifinal games will take place in the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl.

Here's a breakdown of which bowl games will be considered College Football Playoff games this year:

• Quarterfinals: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game and Allstate Sugar Bowl

• Semifinals: Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

CFP rankings projections, predictions

Here's a look at USA Today's Blake Toppmeyer's latest CFP top-12 ranking projections:

Overall record in parentheses

1. Oregon (9-0)

2. Ohio State (7-1)

3. Georgia (7-1)

4. Miami (9-0)

5. Penn State (7-1)

6. Texas (7-1)

7. Tennessee (7-1)

8. BYU (8-0)

9. Notre Dame

10. Indiana

11. Alabama

12. Boise State

REQUIRED READING: Heisman watch: Who are the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy after Week 10?

When do College Football Playoff rankings come out?

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Here's a look at the full list of when the six CFP rankings will be released:

All times Eastern

• Tuesday, Nov. 5: 7 p.m.

• Tuesday, Nov. 12: 8:30 p.m.*

• Tuesday, Nov. 19: 7 p.m.

• Tuesday, Nov. 26: 8 p.m.

• Tuesday, Dec. 3: 7 p.m.

• Sunday, Dec. 8: Noon

* The second set of College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled between games at the Champions Classic.

How to watch College Football Playoff rankings show

• Date: Tuesday, Nov. 5

• Time: 7 p.m. ET

• TV channel: ESPN

• Streaming option: ESPN app | Fubo (free trial)

The unveiling of the first College Football Playoff rankings will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. You can also stream Tuesday's show on the ESPN app (by logging in with your TV provider credentials) or on Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial to new subscribers.

Watch first CFP rankings release show live with Fubo (free trial)

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New College Football Playoff format: How 12-team CFP works, predictions