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College Football Playoff live rankings: Updated 12-team bracket revealed in final CFP poll of 2025

Daniel Mader

College Football Playoff live rankings: Updated 12-team bracket revealed in final CFP poll of 2025 image

The official, finalized 2025 College Football Playoff bracket is almost here.

After weeks of the committee's rankings giving fans an idea of how the field will shape-up, including shifting pieces over the late portion of the regular season. While some teams have been virtual shoe-ins — Ohio State, Indiana and Georgia have consistently been around the top of the rankings — there will be major questions answered by the committee on Selection Sunday.

Championship weekend led to some fascinating results, including Indiana's win over Ohio State and Georgia dominating Alabama. The Committee now has a complete picture to decide the final rankings, as many teams and fanbases they deserve one of the final few spots.

The fallout from Duke's shocking ACC Championship win will also be a storyline, as it could open the door for a second Group of 5 teams to enter the bracket. Could Virginia's loss be James Madison's gain?

And what about Miami? Can the Hurricanes jump Notre Dame or Alabama?

The 12-team bracket will be unveiled, including byes for the top-four-ranked conference champions, plus plenty of other debates at the bottom of the bracket. Who will sneak in to continue playing for a national championship? Who will be on the outside looking in despite a strong season?

AllSportsPeople is tracking live updates from the final reveal of the College Football Playoff rankings and bracket on Sunday. Follow below for the complete rankings as they're unveiled.

STREAM: Watch the 2025 CFP rankings reveal live with Fubo (free trial)

College Football Playoff rankings 2025

This section will be updated.

MORE: Final College Football Playoff bracket projection

Who is in the College Football Playoff?

SeedTeamRecordRanking
1   
2   
3   
4   
5   
6   
7   
8   
9   
10   
11   
12   

First four teams out

RankingTeamRecord
11  
13  
14  
15  

Rest of the top 25

RankingTeamRecord
17  
18  
19  
20  
21  
22  
23  
24  
25  

MORE: College football bowl projections

College Football Playoff bracket 2025

This section will be updated when the bracket is revealed. 

MORE: There’s not much to separate Texas from Alabama following the Tide’s blowout loss in the SEC title game.

What time are College Football Playoff rankings released?

  • Date:  Sunday, Dec. 7
  • Time:  12 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel:  ESPN
  • Stream: Fubo

The final College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 7. 

The rankings will be unveiled live on ESPN. Fans can also stream the selection show through Fubo, which offers a free trial to new users.

How College Football Playoff format works in 2025

While this is the second year of the 12-team playoff, the format is different than last season.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will earn automatic bids, while the next seven-best non-conference champions will earn the wild card spots. From there, the 12 teams in the field will be seeded by ranking, regardless of whether they won their conference championship.

Therefore, the four highest-ranked teams in the field will earn byes, with seeds Nos. 5-12 playing in the first round of the Playoff.

First round

  • No. 5 team at No. 12 team
  • No. 6 team at No. 11 team
  • No. 7 team at No. 10 team
  • No. 8 team at No. 9 team

Quarterfinals

  • No. 1 team vs. No. 8/9 team
  • No. 2 team vs. No. 7/10 team
  • No. 3 team vs. No. 6/11 team
  • No. 4 team vs. No. 5/12 team

MORE: Why Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU

When does the College Football Playoff start?

  • Start date: Friday, Dec. 19

The first round of playoff games will begin on Friday, Dec. 19. There will be four first-round games between Dec. 19 and 20, then four quarterfinals games the following weekend. 

Here's a snapshot of the overall schedule: 

GameDate
First roundDec. 19-20
Cotton Bowl (Quarterfinals)Dec. 31
Orange, Rose, Sugar Bowls (Quarterfinals)Jan. 1
Fiesta Bowl (Semifinals)Jan. 8
Peach Bowl (Semifinals)Jan. 9
National ChampionshipJan. 19

MORE: Who were the winners and losers of college football's signing day?

College Football Playoff schedule 2025

DateRoundMatchupTime (ET)TV Channel
Dec. 19First RoundTBD vs. TBD8:00 p.m.ABC/ESPN
Dec. 20First RoundTBD vs. TBD12:00 p.m.ABC/ESPN
Dec. 20First RoundTBD vs. TBD3:30 p.m.TNT/truTV/HBO Max
Dec. 20First RoundTBD vs. TBD7:30 p.m.TNT/truTV/HBO Max
Dec. 31QuarterfinalsTBD vs. TBD7:30 p.m.ESPN
Jan. 1QuarterfinalsTBD vs. TBD12:00 p.m.ESPN
Jan. 1QuarterfinalsTBD vs. TBD4:00 p.m.ESPN
Jan. 1QuarterfinalsTBD vs. TBD8:00 p.m.ESPN
Jan. 8SemifinalsTBD vs. TBD7:30 p.m.ESPN
Jan. 9SemifinalsTBD vs. TBD7:30 p.m.ESPN
Jan. 19National ChampionshipTBD vs. TBD7:30 p.m.ESPN
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