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- Who is in the College Football Playoff?
- College Football Playoff bracket 2025
- College Football Playoff predictions
- How College Football Playoff format works in 2025
- What time are the final CFP rankings released?
The official, finalized 2025 College Football Playoff bracket has arrived.
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, the playoff field was determined on Sunday.
Some teams that were projected shoe-ins, like Ohio State and Indiana, officially locked in first-round byes for the 12-team bracket, while other aspects were more controversial. No decision from the committee drew more attention than the Alabama/Miami/Notre Dame debate, with one of those well-known squads now on the outside looking in.
Championship weekend also added some fascinating wrinkles, including Indiana's win over Ohio State, Georgia dominating Alabama and Duke's shocking ACC Championship win. As a result, multiple Group of 5 teams made the final playoff bracket.
Which teams snuck into the field and will continue playing for a national championship? Who was snubbed despite a strong season? AllSportsPeople tracked live updates from the final reveal of the College Football Playoff rankings and bracket on Sunday. Here's how the rankings unfolded.
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College Football Playoff rankings 2025
Who is in the College Football Playoff?
| Seed | Team | Record | Ranking |
| 1 | Indiana | 13-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 12-1 | 2 |
| 3 | Georgia | 12-1 | 3 |
| 4 | Texas Tech | 12-1 | 4 |
| 5 | Oregon | 11-1 | 5 |
| 6 | Ole Miss | 11-1 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 11-1 | 7 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 10-2 | 8 |
| 9 | Alabama | 10-3 | 9 |
| 10 | Miami | 10-2 | 10 |
| 11 | Tulane | 11-2 | 20 |
| 12 | James Madison | 12-1 | 24 |
The most consequential final decision from the committee: Alabama and Miami over Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide were not penalized for their SEC Championship loss, now set to take on Oklahoma in the first round, while Miami flipped and got the nod over Notre Dame despite neither playing over conference title weekend.
Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech will get first-round byes.
In the first round, Oregon will host James Madison, Ole Miss will host Tulane, Texas A&M will host Miami, and Oklahoma will host Alabama.
First four teams out
| Ranking | Team | Record |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 10-2 |
| 12 | BYU | 11-2 |
| 13 | Texas | 9-3 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | 10-2 |
Notre Dame was the first team out of the playoff, and BYU was the second. The Irish had been ranked above Miami in recent rankings, but the committee flipped on that decision in the final selection, as the Hurricanes beat Notre Dame earlier in the season.
BYU misses out on the playoff after falling in the Big 12 Championship Game. Meanwhile, Texas' three losses proved to be too much to sneak into the field despite a season-concluding win over Texas A&M, while Vanderbilt's strong season put the Commodores on the outside of the CFP bubble.
Rest of the top 25
| Ranking | Team | Record |
| 15 | Utah | 10-2 |
| 16 | USC | 9-3 |
| 17 | Arizona | 9-3 |
| 18 | Michigan | 9-3 |
| 19 | Virginia | 10-3 |
| 21 | Houston | 9-3 |
| 22 | Georgia Tech | 9-3 |
| 23 | Iowa | 8-4 |
| 25 | North Texas | 11-2 |
The 20th-ranked team, Tulane, and the 24th-ranked team, James Madison, will play in the playoff, as both won their conference — Duke's ACC championship ultimately allowed two Group of Five champions to make the bracket.
The only Power 4 teams with double-digit wins to not make the top 14 of the rankings were Utah and Virginia. On the other hand, four-loss Iowa still snuck into the bottom of the rankings, with narrow one-score losses to Iowa State, Indiana, Oregon and USC.
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College Football Playoff bracket 2025
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.
College Football Playoff predictions
Here's how TSN's Bill Bender projected the 12-team College Football Playoff after conference championship games:
| Seed | Team | Record |
| 1. | Indiana | 13-0 |
| 2. | Georgia | 12-1 |
| 3. | Ohio State | 12-1 |
| 4. | Texas Tech | 12-1 |
| 5. | Oregon | 11-1 |
| 6. | Ole Miss | 11-1 |
| 7. | Texas A&M | 11-1 |
| 8. | Oklahoma | 10-2 |
| 9. | Notre Dame | 10-2 |
| 10. | Miami | 10-2 |
| 11. | Tulane | 11-2 |
| 12. | James Madison | 12-1 |
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
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When does the College Football Playoff start?
- Start date: Friday, Dec. 19
The first round of playoff games will begin on Friday, Dec. 19, with Alabama vs. Oklahoma. 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:
| Game | Date |
| First round | Dec. 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 Championship | Jan. 19 |
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College Football Playoff schedule 2025
| Date | Round | Matchup | Time (ET) | TV Channel |
| Dec. 19 | First Round | Alabama vs. Oklahoma | 8:00 p.m. | ABC/ESPN |
| Dec. 20 | First Round | Miami vs. Texas A&M | 12:00 p.m. | ABC/ESPN |
| Dec. 20 | First Round | Tulane vs. Ole Miss | 3:30 p.m. | TNT/truTV/HBO Max |
| Dec. 20 | First Round | James Madison vs. Oregon | 7:30 p.m. | TNT/truTV/HBO Max |
| Dec. 31 | Quarterfinals | TBD vs. Ohio State | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Jan. 1 | Quarterfinals | TBD vs. Texas Tech | 12:00 p.m. | ESPN |
| Jan. 1 | Quarterfinals | TBD vs. Indiana | 4:00 p.m. | ESPN |
| Jan. 1 | Quarterfinals | TBD vs. Georgia | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN |
| Jan. 8 | Semifinals | TBD vs. TBD | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Jan. 9 | Semifinals | TBD vs. TBD | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Jan. 19 | National Championship | TBD vs. TBD | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |