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How did the College Football Playoff become a 12-team tourney?

AP photo by Wade Payne / Tennessee coach Josh Heupel talks to quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) and tight end Miles Kitselman during the Vols' matchup with SEC rival Alabama on Oct. 19 in Knoxville. The Vols will take part in the College Football Playoff for the first time as it expands this year from a four-team field to a 12-team tournament.
AP photo by Wade Payne / Tennessee coach Josh Heupel talks to quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) and tight end Miles Kitselman during the Vols' matchup with SEC rival Alabama on Oct. 19 in Knoxville. The Vols will take part in the College Football Playoff for the first time as it expands this year from a four-team field to a 12-team tournament. AP photo by Wade Payne / Tennessee coach Josh Heupel talks to quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) and tight end Miles Kitselman during the Vols' matchup with SEC rival Alabama on Oct. 19 in Knoxville. The Vols will take part in the College Football Playoff for the first time as it expands this year from a four-team field to a 12-team tournament.

By EDDIE PELLS / The Associated Press 8 min read

It took more than 100 years, a few billion dollars, and the cold, hard realization that you can’t fight progress forever.

And now, finally, the Football Bowl Subdivision has what other sports leagues of similar caliber have: a legitimate postseason tournament.

The first 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff kicks off this weekend with four first-round games on campuses steeped in gridiron tradition: seventh-seeded Notre Dame (11-1) hosts No. 10 Indiana (11-1) on Friday night; Saturday’s trio of matchups has No. 11 SMU (11-2) at No. 6 Penn State (11-1), No. 12 Clemson (10-3) at No. 5 Texas (11-2), and No. 9 Tennessee (10-2) at No. 8 Ohio State (10-2).

The winners advance to play in bowl games around the New Year’s holidays. No. 3 Boise State (12-1) faces the SMU-Penn State winner in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, while the other three quarterfinals are on Jan. 1: No. 4 Arizona State (11-2) versus Clemson or Texas in the Peach Bowl, No. 1 Oregon (13-0) versus Ohio State or Tennessee in the Rose Bowl, and No. 2 Georgia (11-2) versus Indiana or Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

The semifinals are the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 and the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10, and the tournament concludes Jan. 20 with the national title game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.