2025 College Football Playoff First-Round Picks for Every Game
The race for the national championship, officially, has arrived.
As the high-seeded group of Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech enjoy their byes, four quarterfinals—featuring a pair of regular-season rematches—are poised to begin the 2025 College Football Playoff.
SEC adversaries Alabama and Oklahoma duel in Norman. Miami's next step in a return to national relevancy will happen at Texas A&M, and Group of Five underdogs Tulane and James Madison head to Ole Miss and Oregon, respectively, with an opportunity to provide some chaos to the bracket.
Organized chronologically, we have predictions for each contest—along with scheduled kickoff times and viewing information.
Rankings are based on the CFP Top 25.
No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma
1 of 4
When: 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 19 (ABC/ESPN)
Where: Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma
One month ago, Oklahoma headed to Tuscaloosa and shocked the Alabama crowd in a defense-driven 23-21 upset.
Bama yielded just 212 yards, but three turnovers and zero takeaways shaped the game. Oklahoma—which was without key edge-rusher R Mason Thomas—flipped that interception and pair of fumble recoveries into 17 points, including what proved to be the winning field goal in the fourth quarter.
All of those mistakes, incidentally, are why I'm picking the opposite.
Look, the Sooners are spectacular on defense. They might control the game exactly the same way. Still, it took a near-perfect performance from OU's defense—and equally mediocre day from Bama—to survive that showdown.
The reality is neither offense has inspired much optimism lately, but Alabama should not play that poorly again.
Prediction: Alabama 23, Oklahoma 16
No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M
2 of 4
When: Noon ET on Saturday, Dec. 20 (ABC/ESPN)
Where: Kyle Field in College Station, Texas
In a matchup as balanced as this ACC/SEC affair seems to be, the traditional margins will likely make the difference.
Turnovers, money-down success and red-zone efficiency.
Miami quarterback Carson Beck had an interception issue in October but looked fantastic in November. Texas A&M's Marcel Reed protected the ball for seven weeks, then tossed two interceptions in three of the Aggies' last four SEC clashes.
Miami's offense is 20th on third down, A&M's unit is 59th—yet fourth nationally on fourth down. Miami's defense is 10th on third down, but Texas A&M leads the country. Miami is 20th in red-zone touchdown rate to 43rd for A&M, and the defenses are practically identical in prevention.
Do the trends continue or break?
I'll take the slight upset, leaning on Miami's stout secondary to capitalize on a couple of Reed miscues. Sprinkle in the creativity that superstar freshman Malachi Toney allows the offense, and the 'Canes can escape a raucous Kyle Field on top.
Prediction: Miami 26, Texas A&M 23
No. 11 Tulane at No. 6 Ole Miss
3 of 4
When: 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 20 (TNT/truTV)
Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi
The second rematch of the weekend sends Tulane to Ole Miss, which rolled to a comfortable 45-10 triumph in the September clash.
I don't expect a much different result on Saturday.
Yes, the departure of Lane Kiffin is the main story. Charlie Weis Jr. had served as the Rebels' primary play-caller in 2025 anyway, however, and he's been permitted to stay on the headset before rejoining Kiffin at LSU.
Weis not being able to communicate with Kiffin, an offensive genius, is a negative. But there is simply too much talent on this Ole Miss scoring attack to have a huge letdown, right?
Throw in the Rebels' clear defensive edge—even as Tulane's unit played well down the stretch—and a lopsided score is probably on the horizon.
Prediction: Ole Miss 39, Tulane 20
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No. 12 James Madison at No. 5 Oregon
4 of 4
When: 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 20 (TNT/truTV)
Where: Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon
Another blowout? Yeah, presumably.
If you're looking for complaints about it, though, poke around elsewhere. I've said since 2018 that automatic bids are a terrible idea because of this exact possibility. The administrators in the CFP made this bed themselves.
(Also, power-conference teams getting plastered in opening-round games has been a feature of the Playoff, not a bug. Nothing new here.)
Self-important diatribe aside, Oregon is properly a heavy favorite.
James Madison hung around into the fourth quarter at Louisville in September, and there's no question the Dukes will scratch, claw and fight to the finish. The offense, one averaging 37.3 points, must be respected, too. Alonzo Barnett III has thrown for 2,533 yards and 21 touchdowns with 544 rushing yards and 14 more scores. Oregon absolutely cannot sleepwalk in this contest.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning, nevertheless, is a master of motivation. The overall physicality and talent advantage for the Ducks should be evident by halftime.
Prediction: Oregon 41, JMU 17
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
