College Football Playoff
A college football term
A 12-team bracket deciding the national champion. The four highest-ranked teams get first-round byes, seeds 5 through 12 play in the first round at the higher seed's home stadium, and five conference champions are guaranteed a place.
The bye rule changed. In the first 12-team edition the byes went to the top four conference champions; the format now uses straight seeding, so the four highest-ranked teams get them regardless of whether they won a conference.
Five conference champions still receive automatic bids, but that only guarantees entry, not seeding.
First-round games are hosted on campus, which is the part that made the expanded format feel different from the old bowl system.
You’ll hear it like this
They finished third in the final rankings, which was worth a bye.
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Checked 2026-08-07.