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Here’s what the College Football Playoff bracket would look like right now.
We’re a quarter of the way into the college football season and as teams get deeper into conference play, eyes begin to turn to the new 12-team College Football Playoff bracket. An expended CFP invites a more bracketology style of discussing the playoff implications. With things changing so much every week, it’s about time we do a 12-team College Football Playoff updated bracket.
Here’s what the College Football Playoff bracket would look like if the season ended right now.
The Four Byes:
Alabama, projected SEC Champion
Ohio State, projected Big Ten Champion
Miami, projected ACC Champion
Iowa State, projected Big 12 Champion
Other Matchups:
No. 5 Texas Longhorns (at-large) vs. No. 12 Boise State Broncos (Group of 5 Champion)
No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers (at-large) vs. No. 11 Michigan Wolverines (at-large)
No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs (at-large) vs. No. 10 Missouri Tigers (at-large)
No. 8 Oregon Ducks (at-large) vs. No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions (at-large)
How the 2025 College Football Playoff bracket will be set
Here’s how the new bracket will be determined, according to the CFP website:
The 12 participating teams will be the five conference champions ranked highest by the CFP selection committee, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams.
The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and will receive a first-round bye. The fifth conference champion will be seeded where it was ranked or at No. 12 if it is outside the top 12 rankings. Non-conference champions ranked in the top four will be seeded beginning at No. 5. Because of this, the seeding, 1 through 12, could look different than the final rankings.
The eight teams seeded No. 5-12 will play in a first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No. 8.).
The selection committee will assign the four highest-ranked conference champions to Playoff Quarterfinals hosted by bowls. This will be done in consideration of historic bowl relationships, then in consideration of rankings. For example, if the Sugar Bowl hosts a Playoff Quarterfinal and the SEC champion is ranked No. 1 and the Big 12 champion is ranked No. 3, the SEC champion would be assigned to the Sugar Bowl and the Big 12 champion would be assigned elsewhere.
With the four highest-ranked conference champions assigned to bowls, their four Playoff Quarterfinal opponents will be dictated by the bracket (i.e., No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 winner, No. 4 vs. No. 5/12 winner, No. 2 vs. 7/10 winner; No. 3 vs. 6/11 winner.)
The College Football Playoff bracket will follow the selection committee’s rankings, with no modifications made to avoid rematches between teams that may have played during the regular season or are from the same conference.
The bracket will remain in effect throughout the playoff (i.e., no re-seeding).
The highest seed will receive preferential placement for the Playoff Semifinal bowl assignment.
