The modern era of college football is defined by the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format, a monumental shift from the four-team tournament that governed the sport for a decade. This change completely reshapes what a successful season looks like, transforming the final month of play and injecting a new urgency into the mid-season rankings debates.
The 2024 season was the first time the college football world saw the 12-team playoff, and it did not disappoint. But, there were more changes made to the bracket for the 2025 season and beyond.
Here's what to know about the new College Football Playoff format.
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New College Football Playoff format
Starting in the 2024 season, 12 teams make the College Football Playoff, with four receiving a bye to the quarterfinals and seeds No. 5-12 playing in the opening round.
The most coveted prize is the first-round bye. These byes are now awarded to the top four highest-ranked teams overall, putting an enormous premium on an undefeated record and superior strength of schedule. The remaining eight teams — seeds 5 through 12 — must compete in the first round on the campus of the higher-seeded team in mid-December, a thrilling addition that brings major playoff football directly to college towns for the first time. The winners of those campus games advance to the quarterfinals, which are hosted by the prestigious New Year's Six bowl games.
Teams 5-12 will be chosen by the selection committee, with one caveat: one team will be a Group of Five bid, coming from outside the Power Four conferences, a rule that could give a major advantage to the No. 5 seed if No. 12 is a team that wouldn't have made the playoff based on rankings alone.
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First round games will be hosted by the No. 5-8 seeds. In 2024, those games were:
- No. 5 Texas vs. No. 12 Clemson at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium
- No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 SMU at Beaver Stadium
- No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Indiana at Notre Dame Stadium
- No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Tennessee at Ohio Stadium
Every game from the quarterfinals onward will be held at a neutral site. All six "New Year's 6" bowl games are part of the College Football Playoff, as opposed to just two being involved each year. No other bowl games are part of the playoff.
The semifinal bowl games will still rotate between the "New Year's 6" bowls. In 2025, the following games will serve as quarterfinal and semifinal games:
- Quarterfinals
- The Rose Bowl
- Goodyear Cotton Bowl
- Capital One Orange Bowl
- Allstate Sugar Bowl
- Semifinals
- Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
- Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl
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College Football Playoff bracket
First round
- No. 5 vs. No. 12
- No. 8 vs. No. 9
- No. 6 vs. No. 11
- No. 7 vs. No. 10
Quarterfinals
- No. 1 vs. No. 8/9
- No. 4 vs. No. 5/12
- No. 3 vs. No. 6/11
- No. 2 vs. No. 7/10
Semifinals
- Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist
- Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist
National championship
- Finalist vs. Finalist
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How does the 12-team playoff work in college football?
The College Football Playoff will be made up of the four conference champions, the highest-ranked Group of Five champion and the next seven ranked teams as chosen by the selection committee.
New in 2025, there will be straight seeding, meaning conference champions will not automatically be seeded 1-4 given a bye to the quarterfinals.
Each quarterfinal game will be a "New Year's 6" bowl, while the semifinal games will be the remaining two "New Year's 6" bowls. The bowls will rotate yearly as they already were for the semifinals.
Here are the dates to expect for this season's College Football Playoff.
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College Football Playoff schedule 2025
First round
| Date | Time (ET) |
| Dec. 19 | 8 p.m. |
| Dec. 20 | 12 p.m. |
| Dec. 20 | 3:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 20 | 7:30 p.m. |
Quarterfinals
| Date | Bowl | Time (ET) |
| Dec. 31 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | 7:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 1 | Capital One Orange Bowl | 12 p.m. |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl | 4 p.m. |
| Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | 8 p.m. |
Semifinals
| Date | Bowl | Time (ET) |
| Jan. 8 | Vrbo Fiesta Bowl | 7:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 9 | Chick-fil-a Peach bowl | 7:30 p.m. |
National championship
| Date | Time (ET) |
| Jan. 19 | 7:30 p.m. |
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