College Football Playoff bracket, based on the current committee rankings

Here's a look at how the College Football Playoff bracket looks based on the CFP selection committee's first top 25 rankings of the 2025-26 college football season, as announced on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the first rankings.

This is not the final, official CFP bracket. That won't be revealed until Sunday, Dec. 7. This bracket is just how it would look now based on the most recent CFP rankings. 

2025-26 College Football Playoff bracket

This bracket uses the first selection committee top 25 rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 4. There are still four more in-season rankings before the committee's final rankings — and the official College Football Playoff bracket — is revealed on Sunday, Dec. 7.

The top 25 ranking does not always match the seed in the playoff, as the five highest-ranked conference champions get in automatically, even if they are ranked behind teams in the top 25 or not ranked at all.

Here's how the matchups look:

First Round (and related quarterfinal matchups)

• No. 12 Memphis at No. 5 Georgia
  • Winner vs. No. 4 Alabama in the quarterfinals
• No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Ole Miss
  • Winner vs. No. 3 Texas A&M in the quarterfinals
• No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 BYU
  • Winner vs. No. 2 Indiana in the quarterfinals
• No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Texas Tech
  • Winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State in the quarterfinals

College Football Playoff rankings, seeds

The four highest-ranked teams — regardless of how they finish in their conference — receive first round byes into the quarterfinals. These teams are listed in bold. Teams in the bracket are in italics.

Here are the initial CFP top 25 rankings.

1. Ohio State: 8-0
2. Indiana: 9-0
3. Texas A&M: 8-0
4. Alabama: 7-1
5. Georgia: 7-1
6. Ole Miss: 8-1
7. BYU: 8-0
8. Texas Tech: 8-1
9. Oregon: 7-1
10. Notre Dame: 6-2
11. Texas: 7-2 (first team out)
12. Oklahoma: 7-2
13. Utah: 7-2
14. Virginia: 8-1 (No. 11 seed as the fourth highest-ranked conference champion)
15. Louisville: 7-1
16. Vanderbilt: 7-2
17. Georgia Tech: 8-1
18. Miami (Fla.): 6-2
19. USC: 6-2
20. Iowa: 6-2
21. Michigan: 7-2
22. Missouri: 6-2
23. Washington: 6-2
24. Pitt: 7-2
25. Tennessee: 6-3

NR: Memphis is the fifth-highest ranked conference champion and gets the No. 12 seed despite not ranking in the top 25 rankings.

There is no re-seeding of the bracket.

The four quarterfinal games are not played on campus sites like in the first round. The quarterfinals, scheduled on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 — will be played at the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The four highest-ranked teams will be assigned one of these bowls in consideration of historic bowl relationships as well as seeding.

The four quarterfinal winners will then meet in the semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9. If the seeds hold, that means No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3. The two semifinal winners will then play on Monday, Jan. 19 in Miami for the CFP national championship.

2025-26 College Football Playoff schedule

• First round (Dec. 19-20) — on campus
  • Friday, Dec. 19
    • 8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN, WatchESPN
  • Saturday, Dec. 20:
    • 12 p.m. on ABC, ESPN, WatchESPN
    • 3:30 p.m. on TNT, truTV, HBO Max
    • 7:30 p.m. on TNT, truTV, HBO Max
• Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)
  • Wednesday, Dec. 31
    • Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
  • Thursday, Jan. 1
    • Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, Fla.) | 12 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
    • Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.) | 4 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
    • Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) | 8 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
• Semifinals (Jan. 8-9)
  • Thursday, Jan. 8
    • Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
  • Friday, Jan. 9
    • Peach Bowl (Atlanta) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN
•  College Football Playoff National Championship Game
  • Monday, Jan. 19
    • Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN