College Football Playoff Schedule and Bracket: Complete Rankings & Seeds

This is the official College Football Playoff bracket for 2025–2026, which was revealed on Sunday, December 7. The first CFP game takes place on Friday, December 19 at 8 p.m. ET between No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama.

The top seed is Indiana. There are additional byes into the quarterfinals for No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 Texas Tech.

College Football Playoff bracket for 2025–2026

The CFP selection committee’s final top 25 rankings from Sunday, December 7 are used in this bracket.

The top 25 ranking does not always correspond to the playoff seed because the top five conference winners automatically advance, even if they are ranked lower than or outside of the top 25.

2025-26 College Football Playoff schedule, games

• First round (Dec. 19-20)
  • Friday, Dec. 19
    • No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Alabama | 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN, WatchESPN
  • Saturday, Dec. 20:
    • No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Miami (Fla.) | 12 p.m. | ABC, ESPN, WatchESPN
    • No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 Tulane |  3:30 p.m. | TNT, truTV, HBO Max
    • No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 James Madison |  7:30 p.m. | TNT, truTV, HBO Max
• Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)
  • Wednesday, Dec. 31
    • No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Texas A&M/No. 10 Miami (Fla.) winner | Cotton Bowl | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
  • Thursday, Jan. 1
    • No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Oregon/No. 12 James Madison winner | Orange Bowl | 12 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
    • No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 8 Oklahoma/No. 9 Alabama winner | Rose Bowl | 4 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
    • No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 6 Ole Miss/No. 11 Tulane winner | Sugar Bowl | 8 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
• Semifinals (Jan. 8-9)
  • Thursday, Jan. 8
    • Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
  • Friday, Jan. 9
    • Peach Bowl (Atlanta) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
• College Football Playoff National Championship Game
  • Monday, Jan. 19
    • Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN

College Football Playoff rankings, seeds

The four highest-ranked teams — regardless of how they finish in their conference — receive first round byes into the quarterfinals. These teams are listed in bold. The five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids. All teams in the CFP bracket are in italics.

Here are the latest CFP top 25 rankings.

1. Indiana: 13-0
2. Ohio State: 12-1
3. Georgia: 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. Alabama: 10-3
10. Miami (Fla.): 10-2
11. Notre Dame: 10-2
12. BYU: 11-2
13. Texas: 9-3
14. Vanderbilt: 10-2
15. Utah: 10-2
16. USC: 9-3
17. Arizona: 9-3
18. Michigan: 9-3
19. Virginia: 10-3
20. Tulane: 11-2
21. Houston: 9-3
22. Georgia Tech: 9-3
23. Iowa: 8-4
24. James Madison: 12-1
25. North Texas: 11-2

There is no re-seeding of the bracket after rounds.

Like the first round, the four quarterfinal games are not held on campus. The Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl will host the quarterfinals, which are set for December 31 and January 1. One of these bowls will be given to the top four teams based on seeding and past bowl relationships.

On January 8 and 9, the four quarterfinal winners will square off in the semifinals at either the Peach Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl. No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3 if the seeding hold. The CFP national championship match between the two semifinal winners will take place in Miami on Monday, January 19.