College Football Playoff bracket announced: Teams, matchups, schedule

After a tense weekend of conference championship games made things even tougher, the College Football Playoff committee has rendered its decision on which 12 teams will continue their quest for a national title.

The top four seeds were given to conference champions Oregon of the Big Ten, Georgia of the SEC, Boise State of the Mountain West and Arizona State of the Big 12. Those schools will receive first-round byes, allowing them to watch whatever chaos unfolds and take advantage of an extra week of rest before they play again.

Following much deliberation, here’s who else the committee chose to round out this year’s playoff field:

College Football Playoff matchups, schedule

All first-round games will take place at the home field of the higher-seeded team and will be played on either Friday, Dec. 20 or Saturday, Dec. 21.

No. 5 Texas vs. No. 12 Clemson

at Darrel K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas
Winner to play No. 4 Arizona State in quarterfinals

No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 SMU

at Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania
Winner to play No. 3 Boise State in quarterfinals

No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Indiana

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana
Winner to play No. 2 Georgia in quarterfinals

No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Tennessee

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio, 8 p.m. ET
Winner to play No. 1 Oregon in quarterfinals

CFP championship bracket

National semifinal 1

Orange Bowl, Thursday, Jan. 9

National semifinal 2

Cotton Bowl, Friday, Jan. 10

CFP national championship game

At Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia.
Monday, Jan. 20