| Cfp Years: | 2024–25 |
| Cfb Season: | 2024 |
| Semi Bowl1: | Orange Bowl |
| Semi Date: | January 9–10, 2025 |
| Champ Date: | January 20, 2025 |
| Previous: | 2023–24 |
The 2024–25 College Football Playoff is an upcoming single-elimination bracket invitational tournament to determine the national champion of the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It will be the eleventh edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP) and will involve twelve teams as ranked by the College Football Playoff poll. The 2024–25 playoff will be the first to use a twelve-team bracket; the previous 10 iterations of the College Football Playoff contained only four teams. The five highest-ranked conference champions including one from the Group of Five conferences will be selected to compete, along with the top seven at-large teams. Furthermore, the top four conference champions will receive a first-round bye in the playoff.[1]
The playoff bracket's first round games will be held on December 20 and 21 at respective campus sites. In the quarterfinals, scheduled for December 31 and January 1, 2025, at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl, the top four seeds will play the lowest remaining seeds in the bracket. The winners of those games will advance to the Playoff semifinals, held at the Cotton Bowl Classic and Orange Bowl, scheduled for January 9 and 10. The winners of those games will play in the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
The first round will feature the fifth highest ranked conference champion and seven at large bids seeded based on their CFP ranking at the end of the regular season. The winners advance to face the four highest ranked conference champions in the quarterfinals.
All times are Eastern Time • Schedule source[2]
| Round | Date | Time | Matchup | Bowl game | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | 8:00 p.m. | — | Campus site to be determined | ABC/ESPN | ||
| 12:00 p.m. | Campus site to be determined | TNT | ||||
| 4:00 p.m. | Campus site to be determined | |||||
| 8:00 p.m. | Campus site to be determined | ABC/ESPN | ||||
| Quarterfinals | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN | ||||
| 1:00 p.m. | ||||||
| 5:00 p.m. | ||||||
| 8:45 p.m. | ||||||
| Semifinals | 7:30 p.m. | |||||
| 7:30 p.m. | ||||||
| Championship | 7:30 p.m. | Mercedes-Benz Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia |
The 2024–25 CFP selection committee will be chaired by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel. Its other members will be former Nevada head coach and athletic director Chris Ault, Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk Jr., former head coach Jim Grobe, former NFL player Randall McDaniel, former head coach Gary Pinkel, Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, former head coach Mike Riley, Miami (OH) athletic director David Sayler, former NFL player Will Shields, former USA Today reporter Kelly Whiteside, Virginia athletic director Carla Williams, and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek.[3]
The first CFP rankings of the season were released on November5.[4] Oregon was the first No.1-ranked team of the season, and was projected to earn a first-round bye as leaders of the Big Ten Conference. The other three highest-ranked conference leaders, each in line to earn first round byes, were No.3 Georgia from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), No.4 Miami (FL) from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and No.9 BYU from the Big 12 Conference. No.12 Boise State from the Mountain West Conference (MWC) was the highest-ranked Group of Five leader, and the rest of the projected field was filled in by No.2 Ohio State (Big Ten), No.5 Texas (SEC), No.6 Penn State (Big Ten), No.7 Tennessee (SEC), No.8 Indiana (Big Ten), No.10 Notre Dame (FBS independent), and No.11 Alabama (SEC).[5] During the week following the first rankings release, two top ten teams were defeated, with No.16 Ole Miss beating Georgia and Georgia Tech upsetting Miami to deal them their first loss of the season.[6] [7] As a result, Miami dropped to No.9 and Georgia to No.12. This dropped Georgia out of the projected playoff field, as No.13 Boise State stood to be selected as the 12-seed by virtue of their position as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. Texas, Penn State, Indiana, and BYU each moved up to fill out the remainder of the top six behind Oregon and Ohio State, with Texas also becoming the SEC leader in line to earn a first-round bye. Ole Miss also moved into playoff position.[8]
Following the second rankings' release, Georgia's rivalry game victory over Tennessee and Kansas' upset of BYU moved the Bulldogs back into playoff position at the Volunteers' expense while Boise State moved ahead of BYU into position for a first-round bye.[9] After the third rankings' release, Oklahoma's upset of Alabama and Florida's upset of Ole Miss respectively knocked the Crimson Tide and the Rebels out of playoff position. Tennessee moved back into the top 12, while SMU cracked the top 12 for the first time after clinching an ACC Championship Game berth in their first year in the conference. Ohio State's win over Indiana to deal them their first loss of the season also dropped the Hoosiers to 10th, while Arizona State's win over BYU also put them into playoff position as the Big 12 leader.[10] }}
Following the fourth rankings' release, Ohio State's upset loss to archrival Michigan knocked them down to 6th, while Miami's upset loss to Syracuse knocked them out of playoff position, with Alabama re-entering the top 12.
| Week 9 November 5 | Week 10 November 12 | Week 11 November 19 | Week 12 November 26 | Week 13 December 3 | Final December 8 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon (9–0) | Oregon (10–0) | Oregon (11–0) | Oregon (11–0) | Oregon (12–0) | ||
| 2 | Ohio State (7–1) | Ohio State (8–1) | Ohio State (9–1) | Ohio State (10–1) | Texas (11–1) | ||
| 3 | Georgia (7–1) | Texas (8–1) | Texas (9–1) | Texas (10–1) | Penn State (11–1) | ||
| 4 | Miami (FL) (9–0) | Penn State (8–1) | Penn State (9–1) | Penn State (10–1) | Notre Dame (11–1) | ||
| 5 | Texas (7–1) | Indiana (10–0) | Indiana (10–0) | Notre Dame (10–1) | Georgia (10–2) | ||
| 6 | Penn State (7–1) | BYU (9–0) | Notre Dame (9–1) | Miami (FL) (10–1) | Ohio State (10–2) | ||
| 7 | Tennessee (7–1) | Tennessee (8–1) | Alabama (8–2) | Georgia (9–2) | Tennessee (10–2) | ||
| 8 | Indiana (9–0) | Notre Dame (8–1) | Miami (FL) (9–1) | Tennessee (9–2) | SMU (11–1) | ||
| 9 | BYU (8–0) | Miami (FL) (9–1) | Ole Miss (8–2) | SMU (10–1) | Indiana (11–1) | ||
| 10 | Notre Dame (7–1) | Alabama (7–2) | Georgia (8–2) | Indiana (10–1) | Boise State (11–1) | ||
| 11 | Alabama (6–2) | Ole Miss (8–2) | Tennessee (8–2) | Boise State (10–1) | Alabama (9–3) | ||
| 12 | Boise State (7–1) | Georgia (7–2) | Boise State (9–1) | Clemson (9–2) | Miami (FL) (10–2) | ||
| 13 | SMU (8–1) | Boise State (8–1) | SMU (9–1) | Alabama (8–3) | Ole Miss (9–3) | ||
| 14 | Texas A&M (7–2) | SMU (8–1) | BYU (9–1) | Ole Miss (8–3) | South Carolina (9–3) | ||
| 15 | LSU (6–2) | Texas A&M (7–2) | Texas A&M (8–2) | South Carolina (8–3) | Arizona State (10–2) | ||
| 16 | Ole Miss (7–2) | Kansas State (7–2) | Colorado (7–2) | Arizona State (9–2) | Iowa State (10–2) |
Teams in boldface are leading their conference at time of rankings release (or conference winners in the case of the final rankings).
| |
The cutoff line represents the threshold of the top 12 teams as ranked by the CFP poll.
| |
| Denotes teams who rose in the rankings compared to the previous week. | |
| Denotes teams who fell in the rankings compared to the previous week. |