College Football Playoff format: 12-team bracket, 2025 schedule, dates, first-round games, byes

The expanded College Football Playoff debuts this week as 12 teams will do battle for the right to be called national champions. It will truly be a historic moment in the sport when the first-round action kicks off on Friday and tournament lasts all the way through to Monday, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. 

The biggest change from the four-team bracket comes down to auto-bids. Previously, winning a championship would be a nice advantage. Now, five conference champions are guaranteed a spot in the CFP, and the top for of them get a first-round bye. Additionally, first round games will take place on college campuses.

With so many changes, let’s have a look at how the 12-team College Football Playoff system will work. 

How the 12-team bracket works

Step 1: Rank the top 25

The first step does not change compared to other seasons. The CFP Committee ranks the top 25 teams in the country. The criteria include strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, comparative outcomes of common opponents and any other relevant factors. This step remains the same in both the four- and 12-team systems. 

Step 2: Seed the teams

When the CFP Rankings are complete, the committee seeds the bracket. They first identify the top four conference champions, which become the top four seeds, no matter where the teams are ranked. 

Then, the CFP Committee will fill seeds 5-12 based on the top remaining teams in the rankings. One of the seeds must go to the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion. If that team is ranked lower than No. 12, it will receive the 12-seed. 

Step 3: Create the bracket

The top four seeds receive byes to the quarterfinal rounds, while teams 5-12 face first round matchups at home stadiums of the higher-ranked teams. All future…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-playoff-format-12-team-bracket-2025-schedule-dates-first-round-games-byes/

Author : Shehan Jeyarajah

Publish date : 2024-12-16 15:32:00

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