College Football Playoff bracket, based on current committee rankings

On By Littum

The 2024-25 college football season is the first time we have a 12-team playoff format. During the season, the selection committee ranks the top 25 teams and then creates brackets based on their ranking.

Here’s what that bracket would look like, using ONLY the committee’s most recent top 25 rankings (revealed Nov. 26). This is not a projected look at what the final bracket could look like – just how the bracket looks now using the committee’s own rankings.

2024-25 College Football Playoff

This bracket uses the committee’s top 25 rankings as of Tuesday, November 26. It is important to note that the top 25 seeding does not always match the seeding in the playoffs, as the four highest ranked conference champions receive the top four seed and byes regardless of where the four teams rank in the top 25. The fifth-highest-ranked conference champion is also automatically in, even if that team doesn’t get a bye.

You can see how those numbers — the seed and the CFP ranking — differ below. The four teams with byes are in bold:

  1. Oregon — highest ranked conference champion (Big Ten) and seed no. 1
  2. Ohio State — at-large pick (second team from the Big Ten), the No. 5
  3. Texas — the second-highest ranked conference champion (SEC) and the No. 2
  4. Penn State — at-large pick (third team in Big Ten), seed no. 6
  5. Notre Dame — at-large (independent), seeded no. 7
  6. Miami (Fla.) — third-highest ranked conference champion (ACC) and the No. 3
  7. Georgia — at-large pick (second team from the SEC), the No. 8
  8. Tennessee — at-large pick (third team from SEC), seed no. 9
  9. SMU — at-large pick (second team from ACC), seed no. 10
  10. Indiana – at-large (fourth team from the Big Ten), the No. 11 seed
  11. Boise State — fourth-highest ranked conference champion (Mountain West) and seed no. 4
  12. Clemson — first team out of the CFP
  13. Alabama — second team out of the CFP
  14. Arizona State – fifth-highest ranked conference champion (Big 12) and the No. 12

Boise State, which has only lost to top-ranked Oregon, is the fourth-highest seeded conference champion and would therefore receive a bye to the quarterfinals despite being ranked No. 11. Although Arizona State is only ranked No. 14, the Sun Devils are in the College Football Playoff bracket ahead of the no. 12 Clemson and no. 13 Alabama because they are in as the final automatic qualifier – fifth-highest ranked conference champion.

The next CFP top 25 rankings will be released on Tuesday, December 3.

College Football Playoff matchups

With the four highest-placed conference champions receiving the top four seeds and thus byes, the remaining eight teams meet in a bracket in the first round. Here are the games played on campus grounds on December 20 or 21:

  • (12 seed) Arizona State at (5) Ohio State – winner plays (4) Boise State in quarterfinals
  • (11) Indiana at (6) Penn State — winner plays (3) Miami (Fla.) in quarterfinals
  • (10) SMU at (7) Notre Dame — winner plays (2) Texas in quarterfinals
  • (9) Tennessee at (8) Georgia — winner plays (1) Oregon in quarterfinals

There is no reseeding once the official bracket is revealed on Sunday, December 8th.

The four quarter-final matches will not be played on the campus grounds. Instead, those four games — scheduled for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 — will be played at the Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be awarded one of these bowls, considering historical bowl conditions as well as seeding.

The four quarterfinal winners will then meet in the semifinals at either the Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl on January 9 and January 10. If the seeds hold, that means (1) would meet (4) and (2) would play (3). The two semifinal winners will then play on January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the national championship.