Sunday, the College Football Playoff committee finalized the twelve team field for their first-ever postseason tournament. The top four seeds are the Oregon Ducks, Georgia Bulldogs, Boise State Broncos and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Those four teams earned byes into the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals begin with the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31 and continue through Wednesday, Jan. 1, with the Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
The first-round games:
- Clemson Tigers (No. 12 seed) at Texas Longhorns (No. 5); winner plays Arizona State (No. 4)
- Tennessee Volunteers (No. 9) at Ohio State Buckeyes (No. 8); winner plays Oregon Ducks (No. 1)
- SMU Mustangs (No. 11) at Penn State Nittany Lions (No. 6); winners plays Boise State Broncos (No. 3)
- Indiana Hoosiers (No. 10) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 7); winner plays Georgia Bulldogs (No. 2)
The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Miami Hurricanes are the first two teams that were left out. College Football Playoff chair, Warde Manuel, said the committee had a debate regarding who would take the final playoff spot.
“It was quite a debate,” Manuel said on ESPN. “We value strength of schedule. … We just felt that in this particular case SMU still had the nod.”
Quarterfinals
- Dec. 31: SMU-Penn State winner vs. Boise State, Fiesta Bowl, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- Jan. 1: Clemson-Texas winner vs. Arizona State, Peach Bowl, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
- Jan. 1: Tennessee-Ohio State winner vs. Oregon, Rose Bowl, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
- Jan. 1: Indiana-Notre Dame winner vs. Georgia, Sugar Bowl, 8:45 p.m. (ESPN)
Semifinals
- Jan. 9: Orange Bowl, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- Jan. 10: Cotton Bowl, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
National championship
- Jan. 20: At Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
