Football on a football field
Football on a football field Jean-Daniel Francoeur/Pexels

The 2025-26 College Football Playoff season is taking shape as the NCAA releases the full schedule, complete with confirmed dates, venues and broadcast details for the second year of the expanded 12-team format.

Interest in the new brackets and the updated timetable is surging as fans prepare for the first-round campus games in December and a New Year's line-up that includes major bowl hosts.

According to the official schedule published on NCAA.com, the postseason calendar introduces important timing shifts that will affect team preparation, travel and the overall flow of the championship chase.

Confirmed Schedule and Key Dates for 2025 to 2026

The NCAA's updated announcement outlines all major dates across the expanded playoff system. First-round games will take place on 19 and 20 December 2025, with higher-seeded programmes hosting on their home fields. The shift creates a competitive atmosphere similar to regular-season environments and marks only the second time that the playoffs will include campus-hosted fixtures.

Quarterfinals are scheduled for 31 December 2025 and 1 January 2026 and will be played across four traditional bowl venues: the Sugar Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl.

The semifinals will follow in early January, with the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl designated as the two sites in the current rotation.

The NCAA confirms that the National Championship will be held on 19 January 2026 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. All fixtures across the entire postseason will air exclusively on ESPN and its digital platforms.

How the 12-Team Bracket Format Works

The 2025 bracket follows the same 12-team structure implemented last season. Under this system, the four highest-ranked conference champions receive first-round byes and automatically advance to the quarterfinals. Teams seeded five through twelve compete in the opening round, with the higher seed hosting.

This format reshapes traditional postseason patterns by giving enhanced value to the top four positions and adding new layers of competitiveness for teams aiming to secure a home fixture.

It also increases the number of programmes with legitimate playoff pathways, generating greater national attention as seedings shift weekly in November. The quarterfinal bowl rotation places major match-ups across neutral sites before the semifinals return to two of the most recognisable bowls in college football.

College Football Playoffs Brackets as of Today

Using the most recent College Football Playoff committee rankings published by NCAA, the opening-round match-ups would feature a slate of high-stakes games across multiple regions. The bracket will unfold as follows:

  • No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech

The winner will advance to face No. 4 Georgia in the quarterfinals.

  • No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma

The winner will advance to meet No. 1 Ohio State, the current top seed.

  • No. 11 Miami (Fla.) at No. 6 Oregon

The winner of this pairing will take on No. 3 Texas A&M in the next round.

  • No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Ole Miss

The winner will move forward to play No. 2 Indiana in the quarterfinals.

These projected match-ups highlight the competitive depth of the expanded playoff field and show how the 12-team model creates new paths for programmes outside the traditional top four. Each game represents a potential shift in momentum, with several teams capable of advancing deep into the bracket depending on match-ups, home-field advantages and late-season form.

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