The 2024–25 College Football Playoff is an upcoming a single-elimination bracket invitational tournament to determine the national champion of the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season.[1][2] It will be the eleventh edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP) and will involve top twelve teams in the country 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 top five ranked conference champions 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.
The first round will feature the fifth highest ranked conference champion and 7 at large bids seeded based on their CFP ranking at the end of the regular season. The winners advance to face the 4 highest ranked conference champions in the quarterfinals.
All times are Eastern Time • Schedule source[4]
The 2024–25 CFP selection committee will be chaired by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel. Its other members will be former Nevada head coach and athletic director Chris Ault, Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk Jr., former head coach Jim Grobe, former NFL player Randall McDaniel, former head coach Gary Pinkel, Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, former head coach Mike Riley, Miami (OH) athletic director David Sayler, former NFL player Will Shields, former USA Today reporter Kelly Whiteside, Virginia athletic director Carla Williams, and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek.[5]
the competition to get in the top four this season didn't allow much room for error. That won't be the case next year with the 12-team playoff field debuting.
An early look ahead at who could make history as the first programs included in a 12-team playoff field