After years of waiting for a bigger and better College Football Playoff, it’s finally here. The bracket is there and the games are there.

The first 12-man field has a few surprises in store after a chaotic season. Alabama was the last team eliminated as the CFP committee selected SMU for its final overall spot. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State and Texas are hosting playoff games on campus for the first time ever in the first round. Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State await the winners in the quarterfinals on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Here’s everything you need to know in our viewer’s guide to the new College Football Playoff.

No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame
December 20th, 8pm ET | Location: South Bend, Indiana | TV: ABC/ESPN | Line: Notre Dame -7

No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State
December 21, noon ET | Location: State College, Pennsylvania | TV: TNT | Line: Penn State -8.5

No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas
December 21st, 4pm ET | Location: Austin, Texas | TV: TNT | Line: Texas -12

No. 9 Tennessee and No. 8 Ohio State
December 21st, 8pm ET | Location: Columbus, Ohio | TV: ESPN | Line: Ohio State -7.5

Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Boise State vs. SMU/Penn State winner
December 31, 7:30 pm ET | Location: Glendale, Arizona | TV: ESPN | Line: TBD

Peach Bowl: No. 4 winner Arizona State vs. Clemson/Texas
January 1st, 1pm ET | Location: Atlanta, Georgia | TV: ESPN | Line: TBD

Rose Bowl: No. 1 winner Oregon vs. Tennessee/Ohio State
January 1, 5pm ET | Location: Pasadena, California | TV: ESPN | Line: TBD

Sugar Bowl: No. 2 winner Georgia vs. Indiana/Notre Dame
January 1, 8:45 p.m. ET | Location: New Orleans, La. | TV: ESPN | Line: TBD

Orange Bowl: TBD
January 9th, 7:30pm ET | Location: Miami, Florida | TV: ESPN

Cotton shell: TBD
January 10, 7:30 pm ET | Location: Dallas, Texas | TV: ESPN

January 20, 7:30 pm ET | Location: Atlanta, Georgia | TV: ESPN

The expanded College Football Playoff has lasted nearly seven years and will make its debut this season on Friday with Indiana at Notre Dame. How will this all play out in the next month?

Here are Our expert predictions for the course of the first playoffs with 12 teams.

Secure the title for all 12 teams

More teams than ever are dreaming of a national title at the end of December. At the moment there are six teams that can legitimately call themselves contenders and six teams that can call themselves underdogs – at least when you look at the betting odds.

But you can make a case for any of the 12 teams in the postseason to win the College Football Playoff. This applies to every team in the field.

First round players to watch, key to the game

For the first time ever, college football playoff games will be held on campus. Notre Dame-Indiana will kick things off on Friday night before three games on Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know about each game, including how the teams got there, which players to keep an eye on, and the keys to each game.

Indiana at Notre Dame | SMU at Penn State | Clemson, Texas | Tennessee at Ohio State

12 things to know about the expanded 12-team field

We know the 12 teams in the new College Football Playoff field. Let’s talk about it 12 things you need to know The action begins with first-round games December 20-21.

The CFP’s biggest problems remain

There’s been a lot of political chatter and whining leading up to the final College Football Playoff rankings, and many of the biggest problems are self-inflicted.

Dan Wetzel argues if If these three simple changes were made, there would be significantly fewer complaintsand the sport would be in a much better place.

Will the CFP format change again in the near future?

The SEC’s title hopes lie with Georgia, Texas and Tennessee after Alabama was eliminated from the College Football Playoff, and its commissioner is already considering possible changes to the playoff format.

Ross Dellenger reports on possible changes to the CFP format that are being considered, including changes to the first-round bye rule, establishing more automatic berths for certain conferences and expanding the field.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and this season things are a little different. The 12-team College Football Playoff gave us more games while also juggling the bowl schedule. Bowl season began on December 14th and now ends on January 4th for non-playoff bowls. There are three playoff games remaining after January 4th as the national championship game is on January 20th. You can find the complete schedule here.