After weeks and even months of intense debate and endless projections, a 12-team College Football Playoff bracket will be revealed by the end of the day -- though don't expect that intense debate to end just because of that.
On Sunday, the playoff selection committee will come out with their final set of rankings from the 2024 college football season following the results of the various conference championship games played on Friday and Saturday.
For the Big Ten, the newly expanded and recently reconfigured 18-team conference is expected to see several of its teams among those dozen squads that will have the opportunity to compete for a national championship.
REQUIRED READING: Who will Oregon play in CFP? Live updates as final playoff rankings are revealed
Following its 45-37 win against Penn State in the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis on Saturday night, Oregon is universally projected as the top seed in the playoff field, as the only undefeated team in the FBS. The Nittany Lions, despite the loss to the Ducks, are safely in, as well. The same thought applies to both Ohio State and Indiana, who were in the top 10 of the committee's most recent rankings from last Tuesday.
Here's a look at the College Football Playoff selection committee's final rankings, including where the Big Ten fits in the field, how to watch the selection show and more:
The College Football Playoff rankings show will air on ESPN, as it has throughout the season. Streaming options for the show include the ESPN App, ESPN+ and Fubo.
Watch the College Football Playoff selection show live with Fubo
The CFP rankings reveal show begins at noon ET on Sunday, Dec. 8 and runs until 4 p.m. Despite the broadcast's lengthy duration, the bracket for the playoff is typically revealed early in the show.
Before the long-awaited moment arrives and the final bracket is revealed, here's a look at who USA TODAY's Paul Myerberg has projected to make the 12-team field:
* denotes entry as conference champion
And here's the projected field from USA TODAY Network's Ehsan Kassim and John Leuzzi:
* denotes entry as conference champion
REQUIRED READING: Who will Penn State football play in CFP? Live updates as final playoff rankings revealed
After the playoff existed for 10 years as a four-team entity, going back to its debut at the end of the 2014 season, the field has tripled in size beginning this season, with 12 teams now getting to compete for a national championship.
The playoff includes the five highest-rated conference champions, with the top four of those teams earning a first-round bye and an automatic spot in the national quarterfinals. The seven remaining teams are at-large selections who earn a berth based on the rankings from the playoff selection committee.
The first-round games will be held at the chosen site of the higher-seeded teams - almost certainly at their on-campus venues - before the matchups transition to neutral sites the rest of the way, beginning in the quarterfinals.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: CFP rankings: Big Ten teams in final College Football Playoff Top 25 poll