College Football Playoff bracket: Schedule, rankings, seeds

The College Football Playoff bracket is here. The 12-team bracket was announced on Sunday, Dec. 8. The official 12-team College Football Playoff field and final top 25 rankings were announced Dec. 8. The first round is Dec. 20 and 21.

Oregon is the No. 1 seed, with Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State also getting byes. Below is the bracket, final seeding and complete playoff schedule. 

2024-25 College Football Playoff bracket

This bracket uses the committee's final top 25 rankings on Sunday, Dec. 8. It's important to note that the top 25 ranking does not always match the seed in the playoff, as the four highest-ranked conference champions receive the top four seeds and byes, no matter where those four teams rank in the top 25. The fifth-highest-ranked conference champion is also in automatically, though that team will not get a bye.

College Football Playoff schedule

All times Eastern

First round

Friday, Dec. 20

• No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN

Saturday, Dec. 21

• No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State | 12 p.m. | TNT/Max
• No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas | 4 p.m. | TNT/Max
• No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Dec. 31

• No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU winner (Fiesta Bowl) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN

Wednesday, Jan. 1

• No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas/No. 12 Clemson winner (Peach Bowl) | 1 p.m. | ESPN
• No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee winner (Rose Bowl) | 5 p.m. | ESPN
• No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Notre Dame/No. 10 Indiana winner (Sugar Bowl) | 8:45 p.m. | ESPN

Semifinals

Thursday, Jan. 9

• TBD vs. TBD (Orange Bowl) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN

Friday, Jan. 10

• TBD vs. TBD (Cotton Bowl) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN

National Championship

• TBD vs. TBD (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN

College Football Playoff rankings, seeds

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

Here are the final CFP top 25 rankings, with teams in the CFP also getting their seeds included at the end.

1. Oregon — highest-ranked conference champion (Big Ten) and seeded No. 1
2. Georgia —  second-highest-ranked conference champion (SEC) and seeded No. 2
3. Texas — at-large pick (second team from the SEC), seeded No. 5
4. Penn State — at-large pick (second team in the Big Ten), seeded No. 6
5. Notre Dame — at-large pick (independent), seeded No. 7
6. Ohio State — at-large pick (third team from the Big Ten), seeded No. 8
7. Tennessee — at-large pick (third team from the SEC), seeded No. 9
8. Indiana — at-large pick (fourth team from the Big Ten), seeded No. 10
9. Boise State — third-highest-ranked conference champion (Mountain West) and seeded No. 3
10. SMU — at-large pick (from the ACC), seeded No. 11
11. Alabama — first team out of the CFP
12. Arizona State — fourth-highest-ranked conference champion (Big 12) and seeded No. 4
13. Miami (Fla.) — second team out of the CFP
14. Ole Miss — third team out of the CFP
15. South Carolina — fourth team out of the CFP
16. Clemson — fifth-highest-ranked conference champion (ACC) and seeded No. 12
17. BYU — fifth team out of the CFP
18. Iowa State — sixth team out of the CFP
19. Missouri — seventh team out of the CFP
20. Illinois — eighth team out of the CFP
21. Syracuse — ninth team out of the CFP
22. Army — 10th team out of the CFP
23. Colorado — 11th team out of the CFP
24. UNLV — 12th team out of the CFP
25. Memphis — 13th team out of the CFP

Boise State, which won the Mountain West Conference championship and has lost to only top-ranked Oregon, is the third-highest-ranked conference champion and thus received a bye into the quarterfinals despite ranking No. 9. Though Arizona State is ranked only No. 12, the Sun Devils are the fourth-highest ranked conference champion — over ACC champ Clemson (No. 16) — and earned the No. 4 seed and the final first-round bye.

There is no re-seeding once the official bracket is revealed on Sunday, Dec. 8.

The four quarterfinal games are not played at the campus sites. Instead, these four games — scheduled on 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 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 either the Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10. If the seeds hold, that means (1) would meet (4) and (2) would play (3). The two semifinal winners will then play on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the national championship.