College Football Playoff Bracket: Seeding, First-Round Matchups Revealed

The 2026 College Football Playoff field is officially set!

Alabama and Miami are in, while Notre Dame and BYU are out, with conference championship weekend helping answer some significant questions regarding which teams were worthy of inclusion.

ESPN revealed the full bracket on Sunday:

THE 12-TEAM CFP BRACKET IS SET‼️

Did your team make the cut? 🤔@CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/tkdTkChBrg

— ESPN (@espn) December 7, 2025

BYU didn’t have much of a chance after suffering two different double-digit losses to Texas Tech — though one came in the Big 12 Championship. Notre Dame’s ultimate downfall came due to head-to-head losses against Miami and Texas A&M — with their best wins coming against Pitt and USC.

Alabama was not penalized for losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship, making them the second three-loss team to ever make the CFP. Miami also found themselves in consideration for a national title despite failing to make the ACC Championship, getting over the hump due to their head-to-head victory over Notre Dame.

Oregon will host JMU, Ole Miss will host Tulane, Texas A&M will host Miami and Oklahoma will host Alabama in the first-round matchups.

JMU and Tulane found themselves included due to being two of the five highest ranked conference champions, giving them automatic bids. The AP Poll reflects just how wonky the selection committee’s process is.

CFP STANDINGS
1. Indiana
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Alabama
10. Miami
11. Tulane
12. JMU

AP POLL
1. Indiana
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Miami
11. Alabama
12. BYU
13. Vanderbilt
14. Texas
15. Utah
16. USC
17. Tulane
18. Michigan
19. James Madison
20. Virginia
21. Arizona
22. Navy
23. North Texas
24. Georgia Tech
25. Missouri

Duke won the ACC Championship, by the way…