College Football Playoff bracket, based on current committee rankings

The 2024-2025 college football season will be the first time we have a twelve-team playoff format. During the season, the selection committee ranks the top 25 teams and then creates the bracket based on that ranking.

The four highest-ranked conference champions receive byes into the quarterfinals, with the fifth-highest ranked conference champion automatically entering (albeit without a bye). Let's see what that bracket would look like, using ONLY the committee's final top 25 rankings (revealed on November 19). This is not a projected look at what the final bracket might look like, but what the bracket looks like now based on the committee's own rankings.

2024-25 College Football Playoff Bracket

This series uses the committee's top 25 rankings as of Tuesday, November 19. It is important to note that the top 25 rankings do not always correspond to playoff seeding, as the top four ranked conference champions receive the top four. seedsregardless of where those four teams rank in the top 25.

Below you can see how these numbers, the seed, and the CFP rankings differ. The four teams with byes are in bold:

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

Boise State, which has lost only to top-ranked Oregon, is now the fourth-highest ranked conference champion and would thus receive a bye to the quarterfinals. BYU lost last week, and even though the Cougars are fifth AQ, the Cougars fell behind Boise State in the rankings.

Tennessee and SMU, Nos. 11 and 13 in the committee's rankings, are the first two out, as BYU No. 14 automatically becomes the fifth-highest ranked conference champion.

The next CFP top 25 rankings will be released on Tuesday, November 26.

College Football Playoff Bracket Games

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

• (12 seed) BYU at (5) Ohio State winner plays (4) Boise State in the quarterfinals
• (11) Georgia at (6) Penn State winner plays (3) Miami (Fla.) in quarterfinals
• (10) Ole Miss at (7) Winner of Indiana plays (2) Texas in the quarterfinals
• (9) Alabama at (8) Notre Dame winner plays (1) Oregon in the quarterfinals

There will be no re-sowing once the official range is announced on Sunday, December 8.

The four quarter-finals will not be played on campus grounds. Instead, these four games, scheduled for December 31 and January 1, will be played in the Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be assigned one of these bowls, taking into account historical bowl affiliations and seeding.

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