New Year's Six
| College Football Playoff | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| In operation | 2014–present |
| Preceded by |
BCS (1998–2013) Bowl Alliance (1995–1997) Bowl Coalition (1992–1994) |
| Number of playoff games | 3 (championship game, 2 semifinal games) |
| Championship trophy | College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy |
| Television partner(s) | ESPN (2014–present) |
| Most playoff appearances | Alabama (3) |
| Most playoff wins | Alabama (3), Clemson (3) |
| Most playoff championships | Alabama (1), Clemson (1), Ohio State (1) |
| Conference with most appearances | ACC (3), Big Ten (3), SEC (3) |
| Conference with most game wins | ACC (3), SEC (3) |
| Conference with most championships | ACC (1), Big Ten (1), SEC (1) |
| Last championship game | 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship |
| Current champion | Clemson |
| Executive director | Bill Hancock |
| Website | Official website |
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason tournament to determine the national champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of college football in the United States. The inaugural tournament was held during the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Four teams play in two semifinal games, and the winner of each semifinal advances to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
The CFP is the first time the top-level NCAA football championship has been determined by a bracket competition. A 13-member committee selects and seeds the four teams to take part. This system differs from the use of polls or computer rankings that had previously been used to select the participants for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the title system used in FBS from 1998 to 2013. The new format is a Plus-One system, an idea which became popular as an alternative to the BCS after the 2003 and 2004 seasons ended in controversy.
The two semifinal games rotate among six major bowl games, referred to as the New Year's Six: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Peach Bowl. The New Year's Six represent six of the ten oldest bowl games currently played at the FBS level. The semifinals are scheduled mainly for the final Saturday or Friday of the year, or on New Year's Day. The CFP National Championship is then played on the first Monday that is six or more days after the semifinals. The venue of the championship game is selected based on bids submitted by cities, similar to the Super Bowl or NCAA Final Four. The winner of the game is awarded the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy. Playoff officials commissioned a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous championship systems (such as the AFCA "crystal football" trophy which had been regularly presented after the championship game since the 1990s).
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