Undefeated Oregon will take the number one seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff Bracket. Despite the loss in the ACC Championship against Clemson, SMU sneaks in the playoffs with the 11th seed, making Alabama the first team out of the playoffs, only their third time missing the playoffs since the College Football Playoff (CFP) has been around.
Number 1 Ranked Oregon, Number 2 Ranked Georgia, Number 3 Ranked Boise State, and Number 4 Ranked Arizona State are the teams that will receive first-round byes while seeds 5-12 battle it out in the first round.
The Clemson Tigers, who shocked the country with a walk-off, 56-yard field goal to become the ACC Champions, will play the Texas Longhorns in the first round, who just lost to Georgia in the SEC Championship.
Other first-round games are as follows: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State, No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State. All games will be held December 20-21, 2024.
The winners of these games will go on to play the top four ranked teams for the quarterfinals, the winners moving on to the semifinals, and those winners going on to the National Championship game that will be held on Monday, January 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in Atlanta GA.
As far as the bowl games go, teams that finished their season winning six games were considered bowl eligible. Bowl games will start on Saturday, December 14 and end on Friday, January 10, about a week before the National Championship.
The undefeated Oregon Ducks are currently favored to win the National Championship with odds at (+325), followed by Georgia.
The two semifinal games will take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Jan. 9 and 10. Then the winners of those advance to the National Championship on January 20, at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Stay tuned for updates as the groundbreaking format unfolds!