When Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and his SEC counterpart Greg Sankey could not agree on a new College Football Playoff system for the 2026-27 season, the entire postseason was left in purgatory.The CFP will remain at 12 teams, not expand to 16 as Sankey prefers, nor double to 24 in the format championed by Petitti, and the ripple effect has been felt everywhere. All six-year contracts governing the bowl system expired in January, but the leagues and bowls opted to extend their previous deals by one year. That has lengthened an already awkward bowl arrangement between the former and current Pac-12 schools. There are also a couple of CFP tweaks that will spark heavy discussion as the postseason picture crystallizes in late November and early December.Before we get into the projections, here are other particulars to know about the 2026-27 postseason.CFP alterationsThe CFP consists of five conference champions and seven at-large selections — just like in its first two iterations as a 12-team event — but it will be composed differently. Instead of the top five conference champions earning bids, now the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC champions get automatic berths, as does the highest-ranked team (conference title no longer required) from the Group of 6 conferences: American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt. In addition, Notre Dame qualifies for the CFP if the selection committee ranks it in the top 12.Had these rules been in place last year, Duke and Notre Dame would have replaced James Madison and Miami (Fla.) in the 12-team tournament.Historical bowl ties will no longer figure into where top seeds are placed for CFP quarterfinals. Previously, if the Big Ten and SEC champions earned first-round byes, they slotted into the Rose and Sugar bowls, respectively. Now, the top three teams will choose their destinations in their rank order. If, for instance, Ohio State is seeded No. 1, it could pick the Peach Bowl for proximity or Pasadena for nostalgia.