Last season was the first season of the new 12-team College Football Playoff format, and it was met with high praise.
The expansion also came with automatic first-round byes for the four conference champions, regardless of where the committee ranked them in the final playoff rankings of the season.
The four conference champions that received an automatic first-round bye last season were Arizona State (Big 12), Boise State (Mountain West), Georgia (SEC), and Oregon (Big Ten).
Boise State was given the nod over ACC champion SMU for the final automatic bye, despite the Mountain West not being generally considered part of the Power Four Conferences, unlike the ACC.