The College Football Playoff made it official on Thursday. The field is expanding to 12 teams, beginning in 2024.

“We’re delighted to be moving forward,” CFP executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement. “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. 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 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.”

Under the new format, the six highest-ranked FBS conference champions will be guaranteed access to the Playoff. The remaining six spots will go to the top-ranked at-large teams. The top four seeds will receive first-round byes while the next four will host quarterfinal games.

The first round of the Playoff in 2024 will take place the week ending Saturday, December 21, at either the home field of the higher-seeded team or at another site of the higher-seeded team’s choosing. The No. 5 team will host No. 12, No. 6 will host No. 11, and so on. Specific game dates will be announced later, though the CFP says they will likely fall later in the week.

For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the four quarterfinal games and two Playoff semifinal games will be played in bowls on a rotating basis. The 2024 quarters will take place in the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. The Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the Playoff semifinals that year.

The 2025 quarters will take place in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl, while the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl will host the semis.

The national championship for the 2024 season will be played on Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta. The national title game for the 2025 season will take place on Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami.

In early September, the College Football Playoff board of managers voted to expand the CFP to 12 teams starting in 2026. The hope was to reach an agreement to do so before the contract ended and capitalize on the revenue boost that would come from an expanded field, but complications arose — namely getting the Rose Bowl on board.

According to The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach, the Rose Bowl contract needed to be amended. The Rose Bowl wanted assurances from the CFP’s board that its game would continue to be played during an exclusive broadcast window on New Year’s Day.

From Auerbach’s report:

It wanted that valuable time slot even in years in which the Rose Bowl was not a CFP quarterfinal game, which would throw a wrench into the calendar and the way the new postseason would work. That assurance would also represent special treatment that no other bowl receives.

Multiple reports suggested the Rose Bowl was issued an ultimatum: get on board or be excluded from the CFP going forward.