College Football Playoff field is set: Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech earn first-round byes

By CNN Newsource

Published December 7, 2025 10:55 AM

By Wayne Sterling, CNN

(CNN) — The 12 teams vying to win the College Football Playoff (CFP) national title were revealed Sunday by the CFP selection committee with Miami making the playoffs while Notre Dame and ACC champions Duke are left out.

The top four seeds — No. 1 Indiana (13-0), No. 2 Ohio State (12-1), the defending national champion, No. 3 Georgia (12-1) and No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1) — earn first-round byes and will automatically advance to the quarterfinals.

On Saturday, Indiana won its first Big Ten championship since 1967 after upsetting then-No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 in Indianapolis. This is the first time the Hoosiers are ranked as the nation’s top college football team.

Georgia outclassed Alabama (10-3) 28-7 on Saturday to claim the Southeastern Conference title in Atlanta for the second consecutive year while Texas Tech won its first Big 12 Conference title after dismantling BYU (11-2) 34-7 in Arlington, Texas.

First round matchups

The first round takes place on December 19 and 20.

The matchups (all times Eastern):

No. 9 Alabama (10-3) at No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2) – December 19, 8 p.m. ESPN/ABC
No. 10 Miami (10-2) at No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1) – December 20, 12 p.m. ESPN/ABC
No. 11 Tulane (11-2) at No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1) – December 20, 3:30 p.m. TNT/HBO Max
No. 12 James Madison (12-1) at No. 5 Oregon (11-1) – December 20, 7:30 p.m. TNT/HBO Max

The five highest-ranked conference winners receive automatic CFP berths.

On Friday, Tulane, a Group of 5 school, captured the American Conference title after a 34-21 victory against North Texas in New Orleans.

Another Group of 5 team made it to college football’s version of the “Big Dance.” James Madison beat Troy 31-14 to take the Sun Belt Conference championship in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Unranked Duke (8-5) beat Virginia (10-3) 27-20 in overtime in Charlotte, North Carolina, to win the school’s first outright ACC championship since 1962. However, Tulane and James Madison had a higher CFP ranking than unranked Duke.

The Hurricanes leapfrogged Notre Dame to make it in the CFP poll. The Fighting Irish were ranked higher than Miami in previous polls even though Miami defeated Notre Dame 27-24 in the teams’ opener on August 31.

CFP selection committee chair, Hunter Yuracheck, explained why Miami was chosen over Notre Dame.

“You look at those two teams on paper, and they’re almost equal in their schedule strength, their common opponents, the results against their common opponents,” Yurachek said in an ESPN interview. “But the one metric we had to fall back on, again, was the head-to-head.”

The road to the national title

The CFP quarterfinals are set for December 31 and January 1.

The games will be played in the Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida; the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California; and theSugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

No. 10 Miami or No. 7 Texas A&M vs No. 2 Ohio State – December 31, 7:30 p.m ESPN, Cotton Bowl
No. 12 James Madison or No. 5 Oregon vs No. 4 Texas Tech – January 1, 12 p.m. ESPN, Orange Bowl
No. 9 Alabama or No. 8 Oklahoma vs No. 1 Indiana – January 1, 4 p.m. ESPN, Rose Bowl
No. 11 Tulane or No. 6 Ole Miss vs No. 3 Georgia – January 1, 8 p.m. ESPN, Sugar Bowl

The semifinals will take place on January 8 and 9 in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

A national champion will be crowned at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19.

Last season, Ohio State outlasted Notre Dame 34-23 to win the national title in the CFP’s inaugural 12-team format.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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