It's all about the College Football Playoff now.
Conference championship weekend is here, meaning bowl season is next on deck.
There are 41 bowls involving FBS teams in 2025-26. There are 80 bowl eligible teams, and Missouri State and Delaware should also get to play in the postseason. The College Football Playoff pairings will be determined Sunday December 7, and there is more than enough intrigue heading into the final week of the season.
The first round of the new CFP will have one game on Friday, Dec. 19, and three on Saturday, Dec. 20.
The quarterfinals will be played at the Cotton Bowl Classic (Dec. 31), Capital One Orange Bowl (Jan. 1), Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential (Jan. 1) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1).
The semifinals will be played at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 8) and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Jan. 9). The CFP national championship is Jan. 19 in Miami.
Here are our bowl projections for championship week:
College football bowl predictions 2025
There are 35 bowls involving FBS teams outside the College Football Playoff this season. A look at our projections for those matchups:
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTION |
| Dec. 13 | Bucked Up LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk | Boise State vs. Washington State |
| Dec. 16 | IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl | Utah State vs. Miami, Ohio |
| Dec. 17 | StaffDNA Cure Bowl* | Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion |
| Dec. 17 | 68 Ventures Bowl | Western Michigan vs. Troy |
| Dec. 18 | X-Box Bowl* | Missouri State vs. Akransas State |
| Dec. 19 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | Coastal Carolina vs. FIU |
| Dec. 19 | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | UTSA vs. Kansas State |
| Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Toledo vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 23 | Bush's Boca Raton Bowl | Texas State vs. Louisiana Tech |
| Dec. 23 | New Orleans Bowl | Jacksonville State vs. James Madison |
| Dec. 23 | Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl | Southern Miss vs. San Diego State |
| Dec. 24 | Sheraton Hawaii Bowl* | Cal vs. Hawaiii |
| Dec. 26 | GameAbove Sports Bowl | Ohio vs. Northwestern |
| Dec. 26 | Rate Bowl | Minnesota vs. Arizona State |
| Dec. 26 | Servpro First Responder Bowl | East Carolina vs. TCU |
| Dec. 27 | Go Bowling Military Bowl | Navy vs. Georgia Southern |
| Dec. 27 | Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl | Penn State vs. Duke |
| Dec. 27 | Wasabi Fenway Bowl | USF vs. Clemson |
| Dec. 27 | Pop-Tarts Bowl | Arizona vs. Georgia Tech |
| Dec. 27 | Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice | Central Michigan vs. UNLV |
| Dec. 27 | Isleta New Mexico Bowl | Kennesaw State vs. New Mexico |
| Dec. 27 | Taxslayer Gator Bowl | Vanderbilt vs. Miami |
| Dec. 27 | Kinder's Texas Bowl | North Texas vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 29 | JLab Birmingham Bowl | Memphis vs. Louisiana |
| Dec. 30 | Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | UConn vs. Iowa State |
| Dec. 30 | Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl | Illinois vs. Pitt |
| Dec. 30 | Valero Alamo Bowl | USC vs. BYU |
| Dec. 31 | Reliaquest Bowl | LSU vs. Iowa |
| Dec. 31 | Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl | Cincinnati vs. NC State |
| Dec. 31 | Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Michigan vs. Texas |
| Dec. 31 | SDS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl | Nebraska vs. Utah |
| Jan. 2 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Delaware vs. Army |
| Jan. 2 | Autozone Liberty Bowl | Houston vs. Tennessee |
| Jan. 2 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Missouri vs. Louisville |
| Jan. 2 | DirecTV Holiday Bowl | Washington vs. SMU |
*Denotes accepted bowl bid
College Football Playoff first-round predictions
A look at the four College Football Playoff first-round matchups for the 2025-26 season. Those first-round games will be played on campus:
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTION |
| Dec. 19 | First-Round CFP game | No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Ole Miss |
| Dec. 20 | First-Round CFP game | No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Texas A&M |
| Dec. 20 | First-Round CFP game | No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Oregon |
| Dec. 20 | First-Round CFP game | No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma |
Our first round assumes that Alabama drops just one spot after a loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game. Notre Dame wins the head-to-head argument with Miami, and the first round of the CFP starts at Ole Miss – where the Rebels get a home game against ACC champion Virginia to capitalize on the Lane Kiffin drama.
MORE: 5 things to know about college football playoff bracket seeding
College Football Playoff quarterfinal predictions
A look at the College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchups for the 2025-26 season. Those games will be played at the traditional New Year's Day Six bowl sites:
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTION |
| Dec. 31 | Cotton Bowl Classic (quarterfinal) | No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 6 Ole Miss |
| Jan. 1 | Capital One Orange Bowl (quarterfinal) | No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Oregon |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential (quarterfinal) | No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Notre Dame |
| Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl (quarterfinal) | No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 10 Alabama |
Ole Miss keeps the CFP run going against Texas Tech in this scenario, and we get a rematch between Ohio State and Notre Dame in the CFP championship game. The Oregon-Indiana rematch would be a fun Orange Bowl, and Alabama-Georgia III caps the quarterfinal round.
College Football Playoff semifinal predictions
A look at the College Football Playoff semifinal matchups for the 2025-26 season. Those games will be played at the traditional New Year's Day Six bowl sites:
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTION |
| Jan. 8 | Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (semifinal) | No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 3 Texas Tech |
| Jan. 9 | Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) | No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Oregon |
Oregon-Ohio State and Texas Tech-Georgia are our pairings for the semifinals, which might be under-estimating Indiana’s ability to get to a semifinal rematch against the Buckeyes. The Big Ten championship game could sway our opinion there. It’s a blockbuster semifinal round.
College Football Playoff championship pick
A look at the College Football Playoff championship matchup for the 2025-26 season. That game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTION |
| Jan. 19 | CFP National championship | No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Georgia |
We have had this pick locked in for a few weeks now. It’s admittedly chalky, but this time the top two seeds get to the championship game. The Buckeyes have never won back-to-back national championships. Georgia would have a chance to win its third national title in five years. Kirby Smart and Ryan Day are the best two coaches in the sport right now. A rematch has been in order since the 42-41 thriller on Dec. 31, 2022.
MORE: CFB Picks, predictions for every conference championship game