2024–25 College Football Playoff
| 2024–25 College Football Playoff | |
|---|---|
| Season | 2024 |
| Semifinals |
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| Championship |
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The 2024–25 College Football Playoff is an upcoming single-elimination bracket invitational tournament to determine the national champion of the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It will be the eleventh edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP) and will involve twelve teams as ranked by the College Football Playoff poll.
The 2024–25 playoff will be the first to use a twelve-team bracket; the previous 10 iterations of the College Football Playoff contained only four teams.[1][2] The five highest-ranked conference champions including one from the Group of Five conferences will be selected to compete, along with the top seven at-large teams. Furthermore, the top four conference champions will receive a first-round bye in the playoff.[2][3]
The playoff bracket's first round games will be held on December 20 and 21 at respective campus sites. In the quarterfinals, scheduled for December 31 and January 1, 2025, at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl, the top four seeds will play the lowest remaining seeds in the bracket. The winners of those games will advance to the Playoff semifinals, held at the Cotton Bowl Classic and Orange Bowl, scheduled for January 9 and 10. The winners of those games will play in the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Games
[edit]The first round will feature the fifth highest ranked conference champion and seven at large bids seeded based on their CFP ranking at the end of the regular season. The winners advance to face the four highest ranked conference champions in the quarterfinals.
Schedule
[edit]All times are Eastern Time • Schedule source[4]
| Round | Date | Time | Matchup | Bowl game | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | December 20 | 8:00 p.m. | — | Campus site to be determined | ABC/ESPN | |
| December 21 | 12:00 p.m. | Campus site to be determined | TNT | |||
| 4:00 p.m. | Campus site to be determined | |||||
| 8:00 p.m. | Campus site to be determined | ABC/ESPN | ||||
| Quarterfinals | December 31 | 7:30 p.m. | Fiesta Bowl | State Farm Stadium • Glendale, Arizona | ESPN | |
| January 1 | 1:00 p.m. | Peach Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia | |||
| 5:00 p.m. | Rose Bowl | Rose Bowl • Pasadena, California | ||||
| 8:45 p.m. | Sugar Bowl | Caesars Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||
| Semifinals | January 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Orange Bowl | Hard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, Florida | ||
| January 10 | 7:30 p.m. | Cotton Bowl Classic | AT&T Stadium • Arlington, Texas | |||
| Championship | January 20 | 7:30 p.m. | National Championship | Mercedes-Benz Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia |
Bracket
[edit]| First round December 20–21 at higher seed campus sites | Quarterfinals December 31 (Fiesta) and January 1 (Peach, Rose, and Sugar) | Semifinals January 9 (Orange) and January 10 (Cotton) | Championship January 20 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Highest ranked conference champion | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 4th highest ranked conference champion | |||||||||||||||||
| January 20 – Atlanta | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 2nd highest ranked conference champion | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 3rd highest ranked conference champion | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
Projected bracket based on Week 11 rankings[5]
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Selection and teams
[edit]The 2024–25 CFP selection committee is as follows:
| Member[6] | Position | Conference affiliation[a] |
|---|---|---|
| Warde Manuel (chair) | Michigan athletic director | Big Ten |
| Chris Ault | Former Nevada head coach and athletic director | Mountain West |
| Chet Gladchuk Jr. | Navy athletic director | American |
| Jim Grobe | Former head coach (Wake Forest, Baylor, and Ohio) | — |
| Randall McDaniel | Former guard (Arizona State, Minnesota Vikings, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers) | — |
| Gary Pinkel | Former head coach (Toledo and Missouri) | — |
| Mack Rhoades | Baylor athletic director | Big 12 |
| Mike Riley | Former head coach (Oregon State and Nebraska) | – |
| David Sayler | Miami (OH) athletic director | MAC |
| Will Shields | Former guard (Nebraska and Kansas City Chiefs) | — |
| Kelly Whiteside | Former USA Today college football reporter | — |
| Carla Williams | Virginia athletic director | ACC |
| Hunter Yurachek | Arkansas athletic director | SEC |
Rankings
[edit]The first CFP rankings of the season were released on November 5.[7] Oregon was the first No. 1-ranked team of the season, and was projected to earn a first-round bye as leaders of the Big Ten Conference. The other three highest-ranked conference leaders, each in line to earn first round byes, were No. 3 Georgia from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), No. 4 Miami (FL) from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and No. 9 BYU from the Big 12 Conference. No. 12 Boise State from the Mountain West Conference (MWC) was the highest-ranked Group of Five leader, and the rest of the projected field was filled in by No. 2 Ohio State (Big Ten), No. 5 Texas (SEC), No. 6 Penn State (Big Ten), No. 7 Tennessee (SEC), No. 8 Indiana (Big Ten), No. 10 Notre Dame (FBS independent), and No. 11 Alabama (SEC).[8] During the week following the first rankings release, two top ten teams were defeated, with No. 16 Ole Miss beating Georgia and Georgia Tech upsetting Miami to deal them their first loss of the season.[9][10] As a result, Miami dropped to No. 9 and Georgia to No. 12. This dropped Georgia out of the projected playoff field, as No. 13 Boise State stood to be selected as the 12-seed by virtue of their position as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. Texas, Penn State, Indiana, and BYU each moved up to fill out the remainder of the top six behind Oregon and Ohio State, with Texas also becoming the SEC leader in line to earn a first-round bye. Ole Miss also moved into playoff position.[11]
Following the second rankings' release, Georgia's rivalry game victory over Tennessee and Kansas' upset of BYU moved the Bulldogs back into playoff position at the Volunteers' expense while Boise State moved ahead of BYU into position for a first-round bye.[5]
| No. | Week 9 November 5 |
Week 10 November 12 |
Week 11 November 19 |
Week 12 | Week 13 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon (9–0) | Oregon (10–0) | Oregon (11–0) | |||
| 2 | Ohio State (7–1) | Ohio State (8–1) | Ohio State (9–1) | |||
| 3 | Georgia (7–1) | Texas (8–1) | Texas (9–1) | |||
| 4 | Miami (FL) (9–0) | Penn State (8–1) | Penn State (9–1) | |||
| 5 | Texas (7–1) | Indiana (10–0) | Indiana (10–0) | |||
| 6 | Penn State (7–1) | BYU (9–0) | Notre Dame (9–1) | |||
| 7 | Tennessee (7–1) | Tennessee (8–1) | Alabama (8–2) | |||
| 8 | Indiana (9–0) | Notre Dame (8–1) | Miami (FL) (9–1) | |||
| 9 | BYU (8–0) | Miami (FL) (9–1) | Ole Miss (8–2) | |||
| 10 | Notre Dame (7–1) | Alabama (7–2) | Georgia (8–2) | |||
| 11 | Alabama (6–2) | Ole Miss (8–2) | Tennessee (8–2) | |||
| 12 | Boise State (7–1) | Georgia (7–2) | Boise State (9–1) | |||
| 13 | SMU (8–1) | Boise State (8–1) | SMU (9–1) | |||
| 14 | Texas A&M (7–2) | SMU (8–1) | BYU (9–1) | |||
| 15 | LSU (6–2) | Texas A&M (7–2) | Texas A&M (8–2) |
Teams in boldface are leading their conference at time of rankings release.
|
The cutoff line represents the threshold of the top 12 teams as ranked by the CFP poll.
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| Denotes teams who rose in the rankings compared to the previous week. |
| Denotes teams who fell in the rankings compared to the previous week. |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Current or former, athletic department administration only, during committee term.
References
[edit]- ^ Santaromita, Dan (January 8, 2024). "Georgia, Alabama open as favorites to win 2025 CFP title". The Athletic. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Sallee, Barrett (January 9, 2024). "College Football Playoff bracket, predictions: Early picks as format expands to 12 teams in 2024 season". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- ^ "5–7 format confirmed for 12-team playoff". College Football Playoff. February 20, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
- ^ "College Football Playoff Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Adelson, Andrea (November 19, 2024). "Boise State slides into bye slot in CFP rankings". ESPN. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
- ^ "Year-by-year CFP selection committee membership". College Football Playoff. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
- ^ Giannotto, Mark (November 2, 2024). "When are College Football Playoff rankings released? What to know". USA Today. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ "College Football Playoff rankings: Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami lead first top 25". National Collegiate Athletic Association. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ Bromberg, Nick (November 9, 2024). "Ole Miss defense powers No. 16 Rebels to massive win over No. 3 Georgia". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ Bishop, Chad (November 9, 2024). "Georgia Tech football wrecks No. 4 Miami's perfect season". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ Schlabach, Mark (November 12, 2024). "Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State atop CFP's rankings". ESPN. Retrieved November 12, 2024.