Multiple Big Ten teams can make the College Football Playoff this season in its first season of expanding to 12 teams, a testament to the quality of football at the very top of the conference this season.

In the new, expanded 12-team playoff, the five highest-ranked conference champions will make the field along with the next seven highest-ranked teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be awarded first-round byes, with the other eight teams meeting at the campus sites of the Nos. 5-8 seeds.