College Football Playoff 2025-26 Bracket and Schedule
There was no shortage of drama surrounding this year's College Football Playoff (CFP) selection. The CFP committee didn't make many controversial choices, but a couple of decisions have been hotly debated since the bracket was announced just over a week ago.
A choice that is impossible to argue, yet still a bit odd to see in print, was the decision to name Indiana the top-ranked team in the country. A program once synonymous with losing has experienced a remarkable turnaround under coach Curt Cignetti and rightfully earned that No. 1 spot.
The undefeated Hoosiers kept their unblemished record with a 13-10 win over the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten title game.
Indiana is far from the only school with a legitimate shot to hoist this year's trophy, however. Here's a look at how we got here and what lies ahead.
Bracket Selection
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The CFP committee mostly made common-sense choices at the top of the final rankings. Indiana moved up a spot, while Ohio State only dropped one. Georgia and Texas Tech remained in their top-four spots after winning the SEC and Big 12 championships, respectively.
The last two slots were unsurprising as well. Virginia lost the ACC Championship to a five-win Duke team, which left both squads out of the playoff bracket.
The five highest-ranked conference champions earned automatic bids to the CFP, so Virginia's loss opened the door for two Group of Five (G5) champions. Tulane took the No. 11 seed after winning the AAC, while James Madison took the No. 12 spot after winning the Sun Bowl.
However, the committee's handling of the No. 9 and No. 10 slots raised more than a few eyebrows. The committee decided not to drop Alabama at all, despite the Tide's blowout 28-7 loss to Georgia.
Ohio State, BYU and Virginia all dropped in the rankings after losing their conference title games. For whatever reason, Alabama did not. The decision certainly didn't sit well with everyone.
"They are not [a Playoff team]," CBS College Football analyst Damien Harris said, per CBS Sports' Will Backus. "This Alabama team, specifically the offense, it did not look Playoff-caliber."
Instead, the committee dropped Notre Dame out of the No. 10 spot and moved Miami up from No. 12, even though both teams were idle during conference championship week. Committee chair Hunter Yurachek leaned into BYU's descent while trying to justify the decision.
"Once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, we had that side-by-side comparison. …The one metric we had to fall back on was the head to head," Yurachek said, per CBS Sports' Brad Crawford.
The Hurricanes did beat Notre Dame at the very beginning of the season, and there's certainly nothing wrong with using that head-to-head win to justify having Miami ranked higher. What's curious is that the committee didn't use the head-to-head as a deciding factor until the last possible moment.
Had Miami been ranked ahead of Notre Dame leading up to the final rankings, few would have questioned the Hurricanes' spot in the CFP. Things didn't unfold that way, and plenty of fans have questioned why Miami and Alabama got in over teams like Notre Dame and Texas.
2025-26 CFP Schedule
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Round 1
Friday, December 19
No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC
Saturday, December 20
No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC
No. 11 Tulane at No. 6 Mississippi at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT, TruTV, HBO Max
No. 12 James Madison at No. 5 Oregon at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, TruTV, HBO Max
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, December 31
Cotton Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Thursday, January 1
Orange Bowl at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN
Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN
Sugar Bowl at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Semifinals
Thursday, January 8
Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Friday, January 9
Peach Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
College Football Playoff Championship Game
When: Monday, January 19
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Hard Rock Stadium in Miami
TV: ESPN
CFP Preview & Odds
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Indiana is in a position that few would have anticipated even a few months ago. Cignetti's squad has the Heisman winner in quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the top seed in the CFP.
Cignetti, though, isn't viewing Indiana's season as complete.
"I've got three-and-a-half weeks to get this team humble and hungry for the playoffs," he said, per Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde. "[Being No. 1] only counts if you finish it."
The Hoosiers, Buckeyes, Bulldogs and Red Raiders will open the CFP on bye, and each has the sort of complete team that can compete for a national championship. All four are likely to be favored during the second round.
The big question is whether any of the next eight teams have the goods to knock off a team like Ohio State or Indiana. We probably won't see James Madison or Tulane make a deep run, but a squad like Oregon, Mississippi or Texas A&M certainly could.
Oregon has a high-powered offense led by quarterback Dante Moore, and its only loss has come at the hands of Indiana. Texas A&M has a terrific defense that can turn almost any contest into an ugly, but winnable one, while Mississippi has the sort of explosive offense that can quickly rack up points against almost anyone.
While every team in the field, technically, has a chance to win it all, only a few teams are viewed as legitimate contenders, according to DraftKings Sportsbook:
CFP Championship Odds
Ohio State +215 (bet $100 to win $215)
Indiana +280
Georgia +550
Texas Tech +800
Oregon +900
Texas A&M +2000
Alabama +2500
Mississippi +2500
Miami +2500
Oklahoma +5000
James Madison +70000
Tulane +80000
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