When does the 12-team CFP start? College football playoffs history explored 

The college football playoff is about to look a bit different.

Currently, the college football playoff has just four teams and these teams are voted in by a panel. The four are then seeded one through four with one playing four and two playing three.

The winners then meet in the finals, where the National Champion is awarded. However, for years, college football fans have wanted the playoffs to expand and their wish has finally come true.

When will the college football playoffs expand?

Although the college football playoff was to start in 2026, it will now start in the 2024 season.

The news was exciting for the sport of college football, and Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, Bill Hancock, believes this will make college football even more popular:

"We're delighted to be moving forward. When the board expanded the playoff beginning in 2026 and asked the CFP Management Committee to examine the feasibility of starting the new format earlier, the Management Committee went right to work."

He added,

"More teams and more access mean more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student-athletes. We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future national championship game host cities for their cooperation. Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen."

How is the 12 team playoff going to work?

Georgia is the reigning back-to-back champs

The 12 teams will be determined with the top four conference champions, followed by the top six at-large bids and the two highest-ranked remaining conference champions.

With the way it is set up, it means at least one Group of five teams will be involved in the college football playoff each year. This would make bowl game projections even more interesting as multiple teams will still have a chance to compete for the national championship.

What will the bracket look like?

For the first round of the college football playoff, the bracket will be as follows:

• No. 1 team (bye)
• No. 2 team (bye)
• No. 3 team (bye)
• No. 4 team (bye)
• No. 12 team at No. 5 team
• No. 11 team at No. 6 team
• No. 10 team at No. 7 team
• No. 9 team at No. 8 team

The quarterfinals will then be the classic 1 vs. 8/9, 2 vs. 7/10, 3 vs. 6/11 and 4 vs. 5/12.

The four teams that win would then meet in the semifinals and the winners of those games would play in the National Championship.

When would the playoffs be played?

When the college football playoffs expand to 12 teams, it will also mean some games will be played on their home campus.

For the 2024 college football playoff, the schedule is as follows:

First round (one-campus games)

• Friday, Dec. 20 (one game)
• Saturday, Dec. 21 (three games)

Quarterfinals

• Tuesday, Dec. 31 (Fiesta Bowl)
• Wednesday, Jan. 1 (Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl)

Semifinals

• Thursday, Jan. 9 (Orange Bowl)
• Friday, Jan. 10 (Cotton Bowl)

Championship

• Monday, Jan. 20 (CFP national championship)