College Football Playoff Picture 2024-25: Latest Bracket After Friday 1. Round Games | News, results, highlights, stats and rumours

No. 7 Notre Dame won the first game ever in the 12-team College Football Playoff era after defeating No. 10 Indiana 27-17 Friday night in South Bend.

Notre Dame will now play Georgia in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 8:45 PM ET in New Orleans.

Here’s a look at the current bracket and the remaining CFP plan.

• Friday, December 20: No. 7 Notre Dame 27, No. 10 Indiana 17
• Saturday 21 December: No. 11 SMU at Penn State no. 6 (-8), at 12 ET, TNT/Max
• Saturday 21 December: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas (-13), at 16 ET, TNT/Max
• Saturday 21 December: No. 9 Tennessee at Ohio State no. 8 (-7), at 8 PM ET, ABC/ESPN/Watch ESPN

• Tuesday, Dec. 31: No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU at Fiesta Bowl, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Wednesday 1 January: No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas/No. 12 Clemson at the Peach Bowl, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Wednesday 1 January: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee at Rose Bowl, 6 p.m. 5 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Wednesday 1 January: no. 2 Georgia vs. no. 7 Notre Dame (-1.5) at Sugar Bowl, 7 p.m. 8 PM ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN

• Thursday, January 9: TBD vs. TBD at Orange Bowl, 7:30 PM ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Friday, January 10: TBD vs. TBD at Cotton Bowl, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN

• Monday, January 20: TBD vs. TBD at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN

Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love’s 98-yard touchdown run four minutes into the game set the tone for a dominating victory.

Notre Dame now moves on to Georgia, which will almost certainly be without Carson Beck. The quarterback suffered a UCL injury in his right elbow, and UGA is preparing to play the CFP without him, per Mark Schlabach and Chris Low by ESPN.

Gunner Stockton performed well in the second half and overtime of UGA’s 22-19 win over Texas in the SEC Championship Game, but he could get a tough test against a Notre Dame defense that more often than not has been dominant this year and just shut down Indiana. .

However, UGA has tremendous talent on both sides of the ball. The B/R NFL Scouting Department has eight players (including Beck) in the top 100 of its 2025 NFL draft big board, with safety Malaki Starks fourth.

Ultimately, this sets the stage for a tight, low-scoring game where both defenses come to play.

As for the rest of the first round, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State are heavy favorites and for good reasons.

SMU will have a very difficult task going into cold and windy State College to beat host Penn State, which has a formidable two-headed rushing attack in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, the nation’s best tight end in Tyler Warren and a ferocious run defense by edge Abdul Carter.

SMU’s explosive offense (38.5 PPG) could still find their form in this game, but the defense has had its issues this season and especially in the SEC Championship game against Clemson. Simply put, the Mustangs may not be able to keep up with the Drew Allar-led PSU offense, especially with a world-class talent like Warren proving to be unstoppable at times.

Texas has outscored its opponents by 21.1 points per game. game and went 11-0 against teams not named Georgia. The Longhorns have an incredibly deep talent pool at running back and wide receiver, which should help things considering wideout Isaiah Bond (high ankle sprain) is a longshot to play Saturday, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Clemson, on paper, is the weakest team in the field, and the Tigers haven’t looked like world beaters after losing 17-14 to South Carolina before nearly blowing a 31-14 fourth-quarter lead against SMU. However, it is not inconceivable to see Cade Klubnik put the Tigers on his back here. He did just that against SMU with 262 yards and four touchdowns.

In Columbus, Ohio State will return to the scene of one of its most disappointing games in recent program history, a 13-10 home loss to nearly three-touchdown underdog and archrival Michigan. That loss marked four straight against the Wolverines and kept OSU from going to the Big Ten Championship Game. The mood is simply terrible right now, with particular irritation at head coach Ryan Day.

Still, OSU is a tremendously talented team. If OSU remembers to focus on its strengths (e.g. getting the ball consistently to its best players, e.g. wide receiver Jeremiah Smith), should come away with the victory.

But Tennessee isn’t going to go down without a fight. If Dylan Sampson (1,485 rushing yards, 22 touchdowns) and big-play threat Donte’ Thornton (25.9 yards per reception) get going, Tennessee could give Ohio State serious trouble on defense. Ultimately, don’t be surprised if this game turns into a shootout.

We’ll find out soon enough how the first round plays out, starting with SMU at Penn State on Saturday at The game is broadcast on TNT and streamed on Max.