College Football Playoff Picture 2025-26 Quarterfinals Bracket after 1st-Round Results

The Oregon Ducks, Ole Miss Rebels and Miami Hurricanes filled out the quarterfinal bracket of the 2025-26 College Football Playoff.

Oregon and Ole Miss cruised to expected victories over Group of Five opposition.

Miami's road win over the Texas A&M Aggies was the most shocking result to come from Saturday's three first-round games.

The first-round winners now have a week-and-a-half off before they resume their title quests on either New Years' Eve or New Years' Day.

CFB Playoff Quarterfinal Schedule

Wednesday, December 31

Cotton Bowl: No. 10 Miami vs. No. 2 Ohio State (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Thursday, January 1

Orange Bowl: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (Noon ET, ESPN)

Rose Bowl: No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 1 Indiana (4 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Georgia (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Miami's road upset in College Station was Saturday's standout result.

The Hurricanes battled in a defensive struggle mired with missed field goals to pick up the win over Texas A&M

Malachi Toney scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. That also turned out to be the lone trip to the end zone for either team.

Oregon and Ole Miss had their results wrapped up by halftime against the James Madison Dukes and Tulane Green Wave.

Tulane and JMU moved the ball at a decent rate in their defeats, but they struggled to score on a consistent basis like their opponents.

Ole Miss put up 41 in its second win over Tulane this season, while Oregon posted 48 points in the victory over JMU.

All of Saturday's winners face far more difficult tasks in the quarterfinal round.

Miami takes on the reigning CFB Playoff champion Ohio State Buckeyes, who by the time of kickoff on New Years' Eve, will have had to sit on the loss to the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers for multiple weeks.

Ohio State's only defeat came at the hands of Indiana. Its defense was its calling card all season long, and as we saw with Texas A&M, a defense is more than capable of slowing down Carson Beck and the Miami offense.

Oregon has a fascinating matchup with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who steamrolled through most of their Big 12 schedule.

Texas Tech has arguably the best front seven in the FBS. That unit will pose a significant challenge to Dante Moore and Oregon's stable of running backs that ran for over 170 yards on Saturday.

Ole Miss faces an all-SEC clash with the Georgia Bulldogs. UGA beat the Rebels by eight points back in October.

Ole Miss scored the most points on the UGA defense than any team did this season, but the Bulldogs have not allowed more than 21 points since the Rebels put up 35 on them.

The other quarterfinal pits Friday's winner, the Alabama Crimson Tide, against top seed Indiana.

The four quarterfinal winners will meet in the semifinals on January 8 and 9.

The 2026 national championship takes place on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.