Fresh Bowl Predictions, 2025 College Football Playoff Picks and Bracket Scenarios

The 12 teams in the College Football Playoff field are almost set.

Nine teams are likely locked into the field after Week 14's results. The last at-large spot and the automatic bids from the ACC and Group of Five have to be determined.

There will be some contentious conversation regarding the last at-large spot, which currently belongs to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Alabama plays in the SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs. An Alabama win locks the current top 10 in the CFB Playoff rankings into the bracket, but a loss opens up a wide-ranging debate.

CFB Playoff Predictions

No. 1 Ohio State

No. 2 Indiana

No. 3 Georgia

No. 4 Texas Tech

No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Oregon

No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Ole Miss

No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Texas A&M

No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma

The top nine teams in the latest CFB Playoff rankings are all but confirmed in the field.

Georgia and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are positioned high enough in the top five to be able to sustain a conference championship game loss and still qualify.

The Texas A&M Aggies will drop from No. 3, but at 11-1, they will remain in the top 10. They will host a first-round game instead of having a first-round bye.

Alabama is the team that either makes the at-large discussion fascinating, or not at all.

If the 10-2 Crimson Tide beat Georgia, they will have the SEC's automatic bid and no team beneath them can make a case to jump into the top 10.

However, a loss puts Alabama at 10-3 with defeats to two playoff teams and a bad opening-week defeat to the Florida State Seminoles.

The BYU Cougars, who are directly beneath Alabama, could shake up the playoff conversation if they earn the Big 12's automatic bid with a win over Texas Tech.

A loss would likely doom BYU, but you could make a case that an a 11-2 team with its only defeats to a top-five team (Texas Tech twice in this case) would be a good fit in the playoff field.

And then there's the Miami Hurricanes, who won't participate in the ACC Championship Game. Miami needs Alabama and BYU to lose and for the CFB Playoff committee to punish the two programs for those defeats.

If that's the case, Miami would slot into No. 10. Then you could have the argument about Miami's head-to-head win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish mattering. Miami could be No. 9 and Notre Dame at No. 10 in that scenario.

The other two playoff spots will be filled by conference champions.

The Virginia Cavaliers are into the playoff if they beat the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Championship Game.

If Duke wins, there's a chance the Blue Devils don't reach the playoff bracket. At 7-5, Duke likely won't be ranked on Tuesday, and in that case the two highest-ranked conference champions would get automatic berths.

That would allow both the James Madison Dukes out of the Sun Belt and the American Conference Championship Game winner to make the playoff field.

Right now, the Tulane Green Wave are the highest-ranked Group of Five team. They just need to beat the North Texas Mean Green to confirm their playoff position, regardless of what happens with Duke.

If North Texas wins, it will be compared to James Madison, but it's unclear how the selection committee stacks them up head-to-head since both programs aren't ranked.