College Football Playoff 2026 Bracket
07/06/2025
- The 12 participating teams will be the five conference champions ranked highest by the CFP selection committee, plus the next seven highest-ranked schools.
- The four highest-ranked schools will be seeded one through four and will receive a first-round bye. The remaining schools will be seeded 5-12 based on their final ranking. If any of the five highest-ranked conference champions falls outside of the top 12, they will be seeded at the bottom of the 12-team pool.
- The eight schools seeded No. 5-12 will play in the CFP First Round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No. 8.).
- The CFP selection committee will assign the four highest-ranked schools to Playoff Quarterfinals hosted by bowls. This will be done in consideration of historic bowl relationships, then in consideration of rankings. For example, if the Sugar Bowl hosts a Playoff Quarterfinal and an SEC school is ranked No. 1 and a Big 12 schools is ranked No. 3, the SEC school would be assigned to the Sugar Bowl and the Big 12 school would be assigned elsewhere.
- With the four highest-ranked schools assigned to bowls, their four Playoff Quarterfinal opponents will be dictated by the bracket (i.e., No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 winner, No. 4 vs. No. 5/12 winner, No. 2 vs. 7/10 winner; No. 3 vs. 6/11 winner.)
- The College Football Playoff bracket will follow the selection committee's rankings, with no modifications made to avoid rematches between teams that may have played during the regular season or are from the same conference.
- The bracket will remain in effect throughout the playoff (i.e., no re-seeding).
- The No. 1 seed will receive preferential placement for the Playoff Semifinal bowl assignment on Selection Day.
- All 11 games will be under the CFP umbrella with the administrative policies determined by the CFP.