The 12-team College Football Playoff presents all sorts of new opportunities for the elite FBS college football programs.

Of course, the biggest draw is the larger field compared to the four-team playoff of previous seasons.

The 12-team playoff also begins on campus sits on December 20 and 21, so the No. 5-8 seeds get to host a rare mid-December contest.

With the way the bracket is shaping up, we could see SEC teams forced to travel north to play in below-freezing conditions to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and final are all played at neutral sites. The first quarterfinal takes place on December 31 in Arizona. The traditional New Years' Day venues for the Rose, Peach and Sugar Bowls will host games on January 1.

The semifinals on January 9 and 10 will be in Miami and Arlington, Texas. The January 20 championship game takes place in Atlanta.

The regular college football bowl schedule will still go on as well, but with some alterations to the schedule we are used to to accommodate the playoff. The full bowl schedule can be found here.

Alabama vs. Notre Dame

Two of the most illustrious programs in college football could meet in the first round.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish should be locked into hosting a first-round contest because of their current position in the polls.

Notre Dame was fifth in the last CFB Playoff rankings and it landed at No. 4 in Sunday's AP Top 25.

Since they can't win a conference title, the Irish will likely be the No. 5 or No. 6 seed depending on how the conference championship games play out.

The Alabama Crimson Tide will be one of the last teams into the 12-team field, if they qualify for the playoff at all.

Alabama is currently 11th in the AP poll and three spots ahead of the Miami Hurricanes. The final at-large spot is likely expected to come down to the Crimson Tide and Miami.

Alabama and Notre Dame would likely be matched up in the No. 6-versus-No. 11 game since the Big 12 champion will probably get the No. 12 seed.

Notre Dame has played the better overall football this season and would likely be favored in a matchup with Bama, but the Crimson Tide have one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the playoff field in Jalen Milroe, who has the potential to lead Bama to a road playoff win.

Indiana vs. Georgia

The Indiana Hoosiers are the unlikely playoff participant among the usual contenders for the national title.

Indiana will probably be slotted right ahead of Alabama or Miami at No. 10, and with that, should come a trip to the SEC.

A potential matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs would pit the upstart program in the FBS versus one of the most consistent programs of the last decade.

Georgia's position in the 12-team field is still to be determined since it plays in the SEC Championship Game against the Texas Longhorns.

A win would take UGA in to the top four and give it a bye to the quarterfinals, but if it loses a close game to Texas, it could still get a home game as a three-loss team with a 1-1 record against Texas.

Indiana-Georgia could also be a No. 8-versus-No. 9 matchup depending on how the rankings shift in the next week.

Regardless, the Hoosiers should be headed to the SEC in what could be one of a few Big Ten-versus-SEC first-round clashes.

Ohio State vs. Oregon

The Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks produced one of the best games of the 2024 regular season.

Oregon squeaked out a one-point win over Ohio State at home and it enters the Big Ten Championship Game as the lone unbeaten FBS team.

An Ohio State-Oregon rematch lost a bit of its luster after the Buckeyes' loss to the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday.

However, the rematch actually has a larger chance of happening if in the quarterfinals if the Ducks win the Big Ten Championship Game.

Oregon would be the No. 1 overall seed in that situation and the bracket could shake out where Ohio State lands in the No. 8-versus-No. 9 game.

Ohio State is No. 7 in the AP Top 25, but it will likely be no better than the No. 8 seed in the CFB Playoff because the Mountain West champion as the best Group of Five winner, or the Big 12 champion will jump the Buckeyes into the No. 4 seed.