The College Football Playoff for the 2024-25 season, the first with a 12-team field, has been set following the reveal of the rankings and bracket on Sunday.
The Oregon Ducks are the top-ranked team, and they are followed by the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs, No. 3 Texas Longhorns, and No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions. Rounding out the top 12 are Notre Dame (5), Ohio State (6), Tennessee (7), Indiana (8), Boise State (9), SMU (10), Alabama (11), and Arizona State (12).
The top four teams in the rankings are not the top four seeds, however. That designation goes to the top four conference champions in the final rankings. The top four seeds in the 2024 College Football Playoff are No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Boise State, and No. 4 Arizona State. Each of the top four seeds receive a first round bye and will host a first round winner in the quarterfinals on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
First round matchups will be played at the campus sites of the higher-seeded teams. Those matchups are (12) Clemson at (5) Texas, (9) Tennessee at (8) Ohio State, (11) SMU at (6) Penn State, and (10) Indiana at (7) Notre Dame.
The remaining college football bowl games will be announced throughout the day and finalized by Sunday evening. You can follow those announcements on our live blog.
Bowl games hosting the College Football Playoff Semifinals this season are the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
This season’s College Football Playoff National Championship will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
College Football Playoff
CFP FIRST ROUND GAMES
(10) Indiana at (7) Notre Dame
Friday, Dec. 20 | 8:00pm ET, ABC/ESPN
Notre Dame Stadium – South Bend, IN
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(11) SMU at (6) Penn State
Saturday, Dec. 21 | Noon ET, TNT/Max
Beaver Stadium – University Park, PA
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(12) Clemson at (5) Texas
Saturday, Dec. 21 | 4:00pm ET, TNT/Max
DKR – Texas Memorial Stadium – Austin, TX
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(9) Tennessee at (8) Ohio State
Saturday, Dec. 21 | 8:00pm ET, ABC/ESPN
Ohio Stadium – Columbus, OH
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CFP QUARTERFINALS
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
SMU/Penn State vs. (3) Boise State
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 | 7:30pm ET, ESPN
State Farm Stadium – Glendale, AZ
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Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Clemson/Texas vs. (4) Arizona State
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 | 1pm ET, ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA
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Rose Bowl Game
Tennessee/Ohio State vs. (1) Oregon
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 | 5pm ET, ESPN
Rose Bowl Stadium – Pasadena, CA
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Allstate Sugar Bowl
Indiana/Notre Dame vs. (2) Georgia
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 | 8:45pm ET, ESPN
Caesars Superdome – New Orleans, LA
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CFP SEMIFINALS
Capital One Orange Bowl
Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 | 7:30pm ET, ESPN
Hard Rock Stadium – Miami Gardens, FL
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Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 | 7:30pm ET, ESPN
AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX
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CFP National Championship
Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 | 7:30pm ET, ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA
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Football Schedules
Printable Schedules
- 2024-25 Bowl Schedule (PDF w/helmets)
- 2024-25 Bowl Schedule (PDF; no images)
- College Football Playoff Bracket
Go Penn State Nittany Lions!!!
How long will it be before the first Notre Dame fan comes on this site and asks why is this game not being televised by NBC? You know that’s coming.
Just want to let you know that I am looking forward to ESPN/ABC is televise Indiana at Notre Dame for Notre Dame non-NBC game in 34 years.
As much as I am looking forward to TNT sublicense ESPN for College Football Playoff I am looking to TNT sublicense ESPN for Big 12 Football games next year in 2025.
Small bit of Indiana-ND football trivia:
The first game in Notre Dame’s NBC arrangement was the 1991 home opener against the Hoosiers, which until now is the only time the two schools have faced each other in football since 1958.
That you very much Jesper for information.
Nice job Jesper!!!
Using the Mason-Dixon format:
South:
Byes: Georgia (Peach), Texas (Sugar)
First round: Miami at Tennesse, Alabama at SMU
Rest of the nation:
Byes: Oregon (Rose), Penn State (Fiesta)
First round: Boise State at Notre Dame, Indiana at Ohio State
Remember that this format:
1. Allows teams who didn’t win their conference to have a first-round bye, all the byes would end up being B1G and SEC teams here.
2. While it guarantees a G5 champion regardless of ranking, it doesn’t guarantee all P4 champions make the cut. ACC champion Clemson and Big 12 champion Arizona State would be out, but at least the ACC would still have representation with runner-up SMU. It would be like 2016 when Penn State won the Big Ten but didn’t make the CFP while East Division runner-up Ohio State did. There will be years where at least one P4 champion has no business being in the CFP.
Shame on You Z-Man for being a racist towards the South.
You are disqualified from watching College Football Playoffs.
Also, Z-Man you are NOT a real fan of College Football all you want to do is control the whole thing & you do not give a crap about it.
I am showing tough love on you & I am very disappointed in you.
I pray you get your act together very soon because Christmas is coming.
I consider Z-MAN CFP Mason-Dixon Format a Racist.
There zero place for that in College Football or any other Sports.
Z-Man you need to be very careful on your proposals & posts last thing I want to see Z-Man get in hot water & be on Santa’s naughty list.
The CFP committee got the top four teams right: (1) Oregon, (2) Georgia, (3) Boise State, and (4) Arizona State.
(8) Ohio State vs. (9) Tennessee was the only first-round matchup to be right in this category.
My first-round matchups would have been (5) Notre Dame vs. (12) Clemson, (6) Indiana vs. (11) SMU, (7) Texas vs. (10) Penn State, and (8) Ohio State vs. (9) Tennessee.
Both strength of and overall schedule were my factors in those first-round matchups. Likewise, excluding unbeatens, all one-loss teams should have gotten first priorities.
Good luck to everyone in the #CFBPlayoff!
I would still root for Penn State if they receive #10 seed.
If you don’t like this bracket, you hate football
I have very high approval with bracket courtesy of CFB Fan.
There is no perfect system. Just enjoy these games. If your team is involved, Good Luck.
Fan of your comments God Bless You Lyle.
I will be pulling for Penn State & My dream is a Big Ten Championship rematch Between Penn State & Oregon in National Championship Game.