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 sets 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 5). This isn’t a projected look at what the final bracket might look like — just what the bracket looks like now based on the committee’s own rankings.

2024-2025 College Football Playoff Bracket

This series uses the committee’s top 25 rankings on Tuesday, November 5. 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. You can see how those numbers differ in the brackets:

COMPLETE TOP 25: The complete CFP Selection Committee rankings

Here’s how the series was compiled based on the committee’s top 25 rankings. The four teams with byes are in bold:

1. Oregon – highest ranked conference champion (Big Ten) and seeded #1
2. Ohio State – overall pick (behind Oregon in the Big Ten), seeded at #5
3. Georgia – second highest ranked conference champion (SEC) and seeded #2
4. Miami (Fla.) – third highest ranked conference champion (ACC) and seeded #3
5. Texas – overall pick (behind Georgia in the SEC), seeded at #6
6. Penn State – overall pick (third team in the Big Ten), seeded #7
7. Tennessee – Overall pick (third team in the SEC), seeded #8
8. Indiana – overall pick (fourth team in the Big Ten), seeded at #9
9. BYU – fourth highest ranked conference champion (Big 12) and seeded #4
10. Notre Dame – big pick (independent), seeded #10
11. Alabama – last overall pick (fourth team in the SEC), seeded at #11
12. Boise State – fifth highest ranked conference champion (Mountain West) and seeded #12

Boise State, which has lost only to Oregon, is just three spots away from finishing fourth in the conference champion rankings over BYU, and from finishing fourth and receiving the bye.

SMU, ranked No. 13 in the committee’s rankings, is the first team to drop out. Texas A&M and LSU round out the top 15.

The next CFP top 25 rankings will be released on Tuesday, November 12.

THE BREAKDOWN: A deeper look at what we know about the initial CFP rankings

College Football Playoff Bracket Matchups

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) Boise State at (5) Ohio State – winner plays (4) BYU in the quarterfinals
• (11) Alabama at (6) Texas — winner plays (3) Miami in the quarterfinals
• (10) Notre Dame at (7) Penn State — winner plays (2) Georgia in the quarterfinals
• (9) Indiana at (8) Tennessee — 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 hold, it means that (1) would meet (4) and (2) would play (3). The two semifinal winners will then play at Mercedes-Benz in Atlanta for the national championship on January 20.