The College Football Playoff is back. But it’s never looked like this.

After a decade existing as a four-team bracket, the playoff has expanded to 12, a switch that forced a change in format. 

The bottom eight seeds in the bracket will play Friday and Saturday in first-round matchups, while the top four seeds — Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State — all got byes into the quarterfinals, to be played Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. 

What are the first-round matchups, and what should you watch for? Here’s our viewing guide to the College Football Playoff’s first round.

Friday

No. 10 Indiana (11-1) at No. 7 Notre Dame (11-1)

8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN

Depending on your perspective, Indiana is either the playoff’s upstart darling — it was 3-9 last season, leading to a coaching change — or its most unwelcome guest, after commentators criticized the Hoosiers’ paltry strength of schedule. But there is little doubt about their offense, which rarely loses the ball and averages 43.3 points per game, second-best in the country. Their defense also allows the country’s fewest rushing yards (70.8).

The Irish excel on defense, allowing the country’s third-fewest points (13.6) and posting the country’s second-best turnover margin. It makes the matchup with Indiana’s explosive offense one of strength vs. strength.

Even though they the same state home, these programs haven’t played since 1991. Indiana’s last win in the series? 1950.

Saturday

No. 11 SMU (11-2) at No. 6 Penn State (11-2)

Noon ET, TNT/Max

Promoting Kevin Jennings to starting quarterback four games into the season propelled SMU, which averages 38.5 points per game. Don’t overlook the role of running back Brashard Smith, whose 139 all-purpose yards per game ranks eighth nationally. The Mustangs have struggled with penalties and turnovers.

Penn State has been anchored by a defense that regularly gets behind the line of scrimmage and allows just 16.4 points per game and by an offense that is at its most dynamic when quarterback Drew Allar is finding tight end Tyler Warren, who finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting.

SMU hasn’t been in this big a national spotlight since the “Pony Express” days of the 1980s. Penn State, meanwhile, has won many games under coach James Franklin but never the big one. Which team handles the pressure better?

No. 12 Clemson (10-3) at No. 5 Texas (11-2) 

4 p.m. ET, TNT/Max

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers have faced off before — three years ago, in the Texas high school state championship game, which pitted Klubnik, who grew up not far from the Texas campus in Austin, and Ewers, from the Dallas suburbs. This time, the stakes are even higher. 

Clemson’s success, or lack thereof, hinges on the big play. The Tigers have 35 plays from scrimmage of 30-plus yards, the most of any playoff team, and even four of 70-plus. They have been only average scoring inside the 20-yard line, however.

Texas has produced nearly as many long plays as Clemson, but the differentiator in this game is expected to be on defense — Texas can make a claim to have the country’s best. The Longhorns stopped opponents at a higher rate than any other team in the country during the regular season thanks to 19 interceptions, one off the national lead. 

No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State

8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN

They are two of college football’s most storied programs, having won a combined 1,860 victories, yet this will be only the second meeting all time between the Volunteers and the Buckeyes.

No other team in the playoff has been more second-guessed than the Buckeyes after their regular season ended with a stunning home loss to rival Michigan, which was a 20-point underdog. The loss cost Ohio State a place in the Big Ten title game and eroded even more goodwill from its fan base toward coach Ryan Day. The Buckeyes allow few passing yards and own the country’s best red-zone defense but offensively lack consistency despite elite talents like receiver Jeremiah Smith.

Tennessee is powered by quarterback Nico Iamaleava, whom some NFL scouts consider a potential future first-round NFL draft pick, and running back Dylan Sampson (1,485 yards, 22 touchdowns). But incurring penalties, allowing sacks and scoring inside the red zone have been challenges.