College Football Playoff Bracket: Schedule, Rankings and Seeds

Image Credit: NCAA

NEW YORK, NY — Here’s the official 2025-26 College Football Playoff bracket, as announced on Sunday, Dec. 7. No. 8 Oklahoma hosts No. 9 Alabama at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 19 in the first game of the CFP.

BRACKET GAME: Make your picks in the College Football Bracket Challenge Game

Indiana is the No. 1 seed. No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech also have byes into the quarterfinals.

2025-26 College Football Playoff bracket

This bracket uses the CFP selection committee’s final top 25 rankings of the season from Sunday, Dec. 7.

The top 25 ranking does not always match the seed in the playoff, as the five highest-ranked conference champions get in automatically, even if they are ranked behind teams in the top 25 or not ranked in the top 25 at all.

2025-26 College Football Playoff schedule, games

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• 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.

The four quarterfinal games are not played on campus sites like in the first round. The quarterfinals, scheduled on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 — will be played at the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The four highest-ranked teams will be assigned one of these bowls in consideration of historic bowl relationships as well as seeding.

The four quarterfinal winners will then meet in the semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9. If the seeds hold, that means No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3. The two semifinal winners will then play on Monday, Jan. 19 in Miami for the CFP national championship.

Information Courtesy of the NCAA

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