How the college football national championship changed through the decades

Here's the 2025-26 College Football Playoff bracket. No. 1 Indiana beat No. 10 Miami in the National Championship game on Monday, Jan. 19.

BRACKET GAME: Check your picks in the College Football Bracket Challenge Game

This bracket uses the CFP selection committee's final top 25 rankings of the season from Sunday, Dec. 7.

Click or tap here for an interactive bracket.

The top 25 ranking does not always match the seed in the playoff, as the five highest-ranked conference champions get in automatically, even if they are ranked behind teams in the top 25 or not ranked in the top 25 at all.

2025-26 College Football Playoff schedule, scores

Click or tap here for a live scoreboard

Saturday, Dec. 20:

Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)

Thursday, Jan. 1

Semifinals (Jan. 8-9)

Friday, Jan. 9

 College Football Playoff National Championship Game

The four highest-ranked teams — regardless of how they finish in their conference — receive first round byes into the quarterfinals. These teams are listed in bold. The five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids. All teams in the CFP bracket are in italics.

Here are the latest CFP top 25 rankings.

Indiana: 13-0

Ohio State: 12-1

Georgia: 12-1

Texas Tech: 12-1

Oregon: 11-1

Ole Miss: 11-1

Texas A&M: 11-1

Oklahoma: 10-2

Alabama: 10-3

Miami (Fla.): 10-2

Notre Dame: 10-2

BYU: 11-2

Texas: 9-3

Vanderbilt: 10-2

Utah: 10-2

USC: 9-3

Arizona: 9-3

Michigan: 9-3

Virginia: 10-3

Tulane: 11-2

Houston: 9-3

Georgia Tech: 9-3

Iowa: 8-4

James Madison: 12-1

North Texas: 11-2

There is no re-seeding of the bracket after rounds.

The four quarterfinal games are not played on campus sites like in the first round. The quarterfinals, scheduled on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 — will be played at the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The four highest-ranked teams will be assigned one of these bowls in consideration of historic bowl relationships as well as seeding.

The four quarterfinal winners will then meet in the semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9. If the seeds hold, that means No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3. The two semifinal winners will then play on Monday, Jan. 19 in Miami for the CFP national championship.

Making sense of FCS conference realignment

Here's a breakdown of the many changes to the FCS football landscape in the upcoming seasons amid major conference realignment.

College football schedule: When does the 2026 college football season start?

Here's everything you need to know for the start of the 2026 college football season. The first FBS games are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29, while FCS starts a couple of days earlier on Thursday, Aug. 27.

2026 Big Ten Championship Game: Date, time, TV channel, history

Here's the quick guide to the 2026 Big Ten Football Championship Game.

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