How to watch College Football Playoff selection show start time and TV channel, final rankings and Northwestern bowl announcements

After a week's worth of waiting, a Saturday night full of great football, and a particularly memorable Big Ten Championship game, its time to turn our attention to Northwestern's bowl selection.

The announcement of bowl matchups is incremental, and somewhat confusing. It essentially happens in three stages.

First, the College Football Playoff will be announced on a show on ESPN that begins at 11 a.m. CT. However, according to the official College Football Playoff website, the actual announcement will take place at 11:30 a.m. CT. An important note is that on this show only the four Playoff teams are revealed, not the entire Top 25.

The rest of the Top 25, along with the New Year's Six bowl matchups, will then be revealed starting at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN.

ESPN's coverage of "College Football Playoff Selection Day" spans four hours, from 11 a.m. CT all the way straight through to 3 p.m. CT. At 3 p.m., the network's coverage moves over to ESPNU.

All coverage throughout the day can also be streamed online on ESPN3 and through the WatchESPN app.

Some time after the rankings have been revealed, Northwestern will learn its destination. The announcement will come Sunday afternoon. Both the bowl and the programs involved will make announcements.

Northwestern's potential destinations are the Citrus Bowl and the Outback Bowl.

Pat Fitzgerald will speak to the media late Sunday afternoon or early Sunday evening on a conference call. Stay with Inside NU for complete coverage.