Tag: college football playoff

Jan 1, 2026; New Orleans, LA, USA; A detailed view of the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal logo before the 2025 Sugar Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Mississippi Rebels at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

CFP reveals quarterfinal, semifinal dates and bowls for 2026-27

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The College Football Playoff announced the dates and bowl games for the quarterfinals and semifinals for the next two seasons on Tuesday.

Of note, there will be approximately a two-week break between those rounds in both years.

The 2026 season:
CFP quarterfinals:
–Dec. 30, 2026, at the Fiesta Bowl
–Jan. 1, 2027 at the Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl

CFP semifinals:
–Jan. 14, 2027 at the Orange Bowl
–Jan. 15, 2027 at the Sugar Bowl

The championship game following the 2026 regular season already was announced for Las Vegas on Jan. 25, 2027.

The 2027 season:
CFP quarterfinals
–Dec. 31, 2027 at the Sugar Bowl
–Jan. 1, 2028 at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl

CFP semifinals:
–Jan. 13, 2028 at the Orange Bowl
–Jan. 14, 2028 at the Cotton Bowl

The championship game following the 2027 regular season already was announced for New Orleans on Jan. 24, 2028.

“These dates allow us to maintain competitive balance, maximize the fan experience, and provide consistency for everyone involved in the Playoff,” said Rich Clark, executive director of the CFP. “I also want to thank our bowl partners and their local communities for the incredible work, collaboration, and commitment they’ve shown throughout the first two years of the expanded playoff. The bowl games and the people behind them embraced change, delivered at the highest level, and helped ensure the expanded format was a success for student-athletes, fans, and the sport.”

Additional details regarding game times and television network assignments for the 2026 and 2027 CFP games will be announced later this year.

–Field Level Media

Report: Playoff field to remain at 12 teams in 2026

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The College Football Playoff will remain a 12-team field for a third straight season in 2026, ESPN reported Friday.

Efforts to expand the field stalled due to an ongoing stalemate between the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten, according to the report.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wants a 16-team format. Big Ten counterpart Tony Petitti will only support that if the SEC commits to a 24-team model after three years, but multiple sources told ESPN that Sankey is not ready to go there yet.

Although the field is not expanding in 2026, there will be some changes to the way schools are selected.

The Power 4 conference champions (Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC) will be guaranteed spots in the 12-team bracket, along with the highest-ranked conference champ from the Group of 6 (American Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Sun Belt and the Pac-12). Independent Notre Dame also will be included if it finishes in the selection committee’s top 12.

ACC champion Duke and Notre Dame would both have qualified for CFP spots this season if those rules had been in place, while Miami — which lost to No. 1 Indiana in Monday’s title game — would have been excluded.

–Field Level Media

Reports: No CFP expansion decision with Friday deadline looming

Posted on | by Field Level Media

With the deadline for College Football Playoff expansion next season approaching on Friday, there is still no resolution after a Sunday meeting of CFP’s leadership in Miami, according to reports.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey hold much of the power over CFP expansion because of a memorandum of understanding signed by all 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua, who make up the CFP management committee.

Petitti reportedly wants to expand to a 24-team field, while Sankey and the SEC prefer adding four more teams to create a 16-team format. Although there is reportedly support within the committee for a move to a 16-team field, Petitti will not agree to this starting in 2026 unless Sankey agrees to move to a 24-team field starting in 2029, according to an ESPN report.

If the two sides cannot agree on a new format by Friday, the 2026 College Football Playoff will stay with 12 teams.

“Still more work to do,” Petitti told reporters as he left Sunday’s meeting.

A 24-team College Football Playoff would eliminate the need for conference championship games, which is reportedly a sticking point for Sankey and the SEC.

–Field Level Media

Report: ACC allowing Miami to keep $14M CFP payout

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Atlantic Coast Conference is giving Miami the entirety of the College Football Playoff prize money it earned so far, according to Front Office Sports.

While the conference is entitled to keep a portion of the winnings, the ACC is electing not to do so due to its success initiatives model which went into effect for the 2024-25 academic year.

That allows Miami to keep its entire prize pool, which currently sits at $14 million after the 10th-seeded Hurricanes beat No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

The Hurricanes didn’t make the ACC championship game due to two conference losses and a tiebreaker they lost to Duke, but made the CFP as an at-large team.

To date, Miami (12-2) has made $4 million for making the 12-team CFP, $4 more million for winning its first-round game and $6 million for winning its quarterfinal.

With a win over No. 6 seed Ole Miss (13-1) in the CFP semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 8, the Hurricanes would earn $6 million in additional money, bringing their potential haul to $20 million in addition to $3 million in travel expenses for each round they play in.

–Field Level Media

No. 4 Texas Tech on historic run entering Orange Bowl vs. No. 5 Oregon

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Texas Tech did not win a single bowl game during Patrick Mahomes’ three seasons in the program from 2014-16.

Yet nine years after a legend’s departure, the No. 4 Red Raiders are playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals when they face No. 5 Oregon on Thursday in the Orange Bowl at Miami Gardens, Fla.

Texas Tech (12-1) set a school record for victories and received a first-round playoff bye. The Red Raiders revamped their roster in the transfer portal last offseason but their best player could be former walk-on Jacob Rodriguez, the unanimous All-American linebacker who finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Rodriguez is the national leader with seven forced fumbles and has 117 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and four interceptions. He has scored three touchdowns — two on direct snaps on offense and one on a fumble returned for a touchdown.

“I’m just proud of myself for putting in the work,” said Rodriguez, “but I’m more proud of the people I’ve been around and people I’ve gotten to experience in that time.”

Oregon (12-1) blasted James Madison 51-34 in the first round, coming out the gates fast with touchdowns on each of its first five possessions and leading 34-6 at halftime.

Star quarterback Dante Moore passed for 313 yards and four touchdowns and added a score on the ground.

Moore, often mentioned as a possible No. 1 overall draft pick should he enter the 2026 NFL Draft, is confident the Ducks will light up the scoreboard again.

This despite the Red Raiders holding high-powered BYU to seven points in each of their two meetings this season, including the Big 12 championship game.

“Of course Texas Tech has a great front-seven,” Moore said. “They’ve been working their tails off to make great plays. I’ve got to give them credit, but at practice I’ve been doing it for a while now, so it’s going to feel good that how you practice is how you play, and this week we’ve been pushing ourselves when it comes to O-Line and it comes to myself.”

Oregon’s exploits in the first round caught the attention of Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire.

“You look up and they’ve already scored 30-plus points,” McGuire said of the Ducks. “I think they had five touchdowns on five drives, so they’re really explosive. We’ve got to do a good job of making them drive the field.”

The Red Raiders’ unanimous All-American edge rusher David Bailey (second in FBS with 13.5 sacks) and cornerback Brice Pollock (team-high five interceptions) will lend Rodriguez a hand for a defense that leads the nation with 31 takeaways.

All of Texas Tech’s wins have come by 20 or more points and the lone loss occurred when quarterback Behren Morton was sidelined with a lower-leg injury. But that 26-22 loss to Arizona State also became a rallying point, according to Morton, a fifth-year senior who has passed for 2,643 yards and 22 touchdowns against four interceptions.

“We brought everyone up, and we kind of said, ‘Is this going to be another year for Texas Tech where we win eight games and go make a decent bowl game, or do we have something special?’” Morton said.

Oregon will look for a better showing than it put up in last season’s quarterfinals, when it trailed by 34 points in the second quarter and lost 41-21 to Ohio State.

This season’s lone loss still burns Moore, who threw two interceptions during a 30-20 loss to Indiana. However, he has been performing well of late with nine touchdown passes over the past four games.

“He understands how to solve problems within our offense,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “He can check to a lot of things himself, make every throw, and use all the weapons we have. Every route is alive on every play.”

Moore has passed for 3,046 yards and 28 touchdowns against eight interceptions.

A victory would give Oregon a school-record 13th victory for the third time (2014, 2024).

Oregon beat Texas Tech 38-30 on the road in 2023 with Bo Nix at quarterback. The Ducks have won all three meetings.

The winner of this game faces either No. 1 Indiana or No. 9 Alabama in the Peach Bowl semifinal on Jan. 9.

–Field Level Media

CFP ratings plummet 7% as games opposite NFL struggle again

Posted on | by Field Level Media

While college football is big business, the NFL remains king as more evidence arrived from last weekend’s television ratings.

Even the first round of the College Football Playoff last Friday and Saturday struggled to compete against opposing NFL regular-season games on the airwaves.

The four first-round CFP games had an average TV audience of 9.9 million viewers, down 7% from the first round last season that had an average of 10.6 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT, according to Front Office Sports.

By comparison, two NFL games on Saturday averaged 18.4 million viewers per game.

The biggest audience for a first-round CFP game last weekend came on Friday against no NFL competition, when traditional powers Alabama and Oklahoma drew an audience of 14.9 million viewers.

Miami and Texas A&M played an early game Saturday, before NFL games kicked off, and had an audience of 14.8 million.

The two later CFP games on Saturday struggled while overlapping the Saturday NFL slate. It did not help that those CFP games both included Group of Six teams.

While Tulane-Ole Miss drew 6.2 million viewers, the NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, which started over an hour later, had 15.5 million. James Madison-Oregon (4.4 million) did not come close to competing with the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears (21.3 million).

It is an ominous sign for the CFP, which appears to be moving toward a 16-team postseason that would add four more first-round games.

The CFP-NFL discrepancy is not just limited to this year. According to the FOS report, first-round CFP games in both 2024 and 2025 that did not overlap with NFL broadcasts averaged 14.3 million viewers. Those that did overlap with the NFL had an average of 6.4 million.

–Field Level Media

Dec 20, 2025; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling (1) breaks the tackle attempt by Tulane Green Wave defensive back Isaiah Wadsworth (8) during the first half of a game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

No. 6 Ole Miss begins Pete Golding era with CFP rout of No. 11 Tulane

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Trinidad Chambliss threw for 282 yards and accounted for three touchdowns that combined with No. 6 Ole Miss’ strong defensive performance for a 41-10 victory over No. 11 Tulane under new coach Pete Golding in a College Football Playoff first-round game Saturday at Oxford, Miss.

Golding’s first game as head coach coincided with the Rebels’ first CFP game, and it was mostly a smooth day as the Southeastern Conference team rolled to its second victory this season against Tulane.

Chambliss threw for one touchdown and had rushing scores from 4 and 8 yards.

Ole Miss (12-1) heads to the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 in New Orleans to face No. 3 Georgia in the quarterfinals. It will be a rematch of the Rebels’ only loss this season – by a 43-35 score on Oct. 18 on the Bulldogs’ home field.

Tulane (11-3) played under coach Jon Sumrall in his final game before he takes over at Florida. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff was 20-for-35 passing for 306 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Shazz Preston caught five passes for 125 yards.

Golding, who rose from defensive coordinator to head coach when Lane Kiffin bolted for LSU on Nov. 30, watched his defense keep Tulane out of the end zone until four minutes remained in the game.

Chambliss was 23-for-29 without an interception. Kewan Lacy rushed for 87 yards with a touchdown on 15 carries.

Lacy scored the game’s first touchdown on a 20-yard burst up the middle as the Rebels went 75 yards in three plays to score 59 seconds into the game.

Following Jaylon Braxton’s interception in the red zone, Ole Miss was quickly in the end zone again. The Rebels covered 60 yards in four plays as Chambliss ran 4 yards to make it 14-0 at the 7:26 mark of the first quarter.

Tulane opened the second-quarter scoring on Patrick Durkin’s 39-yard field goal. Ole Miss regained the 14-point edge on Lucas Carneiro’s 42-yard field goal, then a red-zone fumble in the final minute of the first half prevented the Rebels from further adding to the lead.

Ole Miss made it comfortable by scoring on its first two possessions of the second half. Chambliss threw 13 yards to De’Zhaun Stribling and Carneiro kicked a 48-yard field goal.

The final score wasn’t much different than the teams’ first meeting this season. The Rebels topped Tulane in a 45-10 romp on Sept. 20 in the same stadium.

–Field Level Media

CFP debutants Miami, Texas A&M welcome playoff proving ground

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Few teams came closer to the top of the sport without reaching the College Football Playoff than Texas A&M and Miami.

After failing to make the playoff field in the first 11 years the bracket was in place, the Aggies and Hurricanes are first-time playoff competitors this season.

They’ll face off Saturday afternoon in College Station for a right to take on No. 2 seed Ohio State in the CFP quarterfinals on New Year’s Eve.

No. 7 seed Texas A&M (11-1) was trending towards a top-four seed and a first-round bye before the team stubbed a toe in the regular-season finale, losing 27-17 at rival Texas on Nov. 28.

Instead of an extra week off, the program’s first playoff game will be in its home stadium in front of a capacity crowd of over 102,000. An Aggies win pushes them 150 miles up the road to the Cotton Bowl in Arlington to play the Buckeyes.

The second half of that Texas loss, in which the Longhorns amassed 285 yards of offense and 24 points, was a stunning turn for Texas A&M’s defense. The Aggies are tied for the FBS lead in sacks (41), have the nation’s best opposing third-down conversion percentage (22.7) and are 19th in total defense (309.8 yards per game).

“We’ve looked at the tape. We’ve seen the areas that we were deficient and made the proper adjustments,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said of the Texas loss. “At the end of the day, we’re just excited to get back out on the field and know there’s a really big game in front of us to play on Saturday.”

The 10th-seeded Hurricanes (10-2) appeared destined to narrowly miss the CFP for the second straight year when they were left out of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game due to a tiebreaker.

However, the CFP committee elected to flip Miami and Notre Dame, giving the Hurricanes the final spot thanks to their head-to-head win after they had trailed the Irish in all previous rankings.

Miami is led by its defense under first-year coordinator Corey Hetherman. The Hurricanes rank sixth in scoring defense (13.8 points), seventh in rushing defense (86.8 yards) and 11th in total defense (277.8 yards).

After a pair of losses in a three-week span, Miami finished the season on a four-game winning streak in which it outscored those opponents 151-41.

“They love to work. They love the grind. They find opportunities to get better on their own by pushing, they push coaches,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said of his team.

He added: “Very hungry, driven team. It’s a team with tremendous heart as it relates to football and off the field.”

That defense could get even better this week, with Cristobal saying he feels “very strongly” that standout nickelback Keionte Scott will return after missing the last three games.

Those defenses have helped each team’s quarterbacks in Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed — who announced on Dec. 12 he’s returning for 2026 — and Miami’s Carson Beck. The two have similar statlines, each throwing 25 touchdowns along with 10 interceptions, tied with Oklahoma’s John Mateer for the most of any CFP QB.

Reed has the benefit of his legs (466 rushing yards, six touchdowns) and a pair of very productive transfer receivers in KC Concepcion (866 yards, nine TDs) and Mario Craver (825 yards, four TDs).

Beck doesn’t have much mobility, but he does have one of the best freshmen in the country in receiver Malachi Toney (970 yards, seven TDs).

This will be the third time in four years Texas A&M and Miami face off. They played a home-and-home in 2022-23, with each team winning at home. Miami leads the all-time series 3-2.

–Field Level Media

CFP rankings: Same top five, Oregon moves to No. 6

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The top five of the College Football Playoff rankings did not change Tuesday, while Oregon was bumped one spot to No. 6 as a reward for defeating ranked rival Southern California over the weekend.

Oregon’s move came at the expense of Ole Miss, which slipped to No. 7 on an idle week (and amid the saga of whether Rebels coach Lane Kiffin will leave the team for LSU or Florida after the season). The Ducks’ 42-27 home win over the Trojans became the best victory on Oregon’s resume.

In his interview on ESPN’s broadcast, CFP chair Hunter Yurachek talked around the question of whether the committee would penalize Ole Miss if Kiffin left the school before the playoff.

“We would not have seen the team play without a coach,” Yurachek said.

Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, Georgia and Texas Tech once again constituted the top five. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama and BYU remained Nos. 8-11. Alabama was the final at-large team in the mock bracket, and BYU was the first team to miss the cut.

Behind them, Miami moved one spot past Utah for No. 12. Even though the Hurricanes cannot qualify for the ACC championship game, they represented the league in the bracket as a placeholder for one of the five highest-ranked conference champs.

Miami defeated Virginia Tech 34-17 on the road last Saturday, while Utah got a scare from visiting Kansas State and had to rally to win 51-47.

With the move, Miami is still three spots behind Notre Dame, a team it beat head to head to open the season. Yurachek made clear the committee prefers Notre Dame’s full body of work.

“(Miami and Notre Dame) were compared this week in the same pod with Alabama and a one-loss BYU,” Yurachek said, “and the committee still feels that Notre Dame is a complete team, has been consistent throughout the season, and deserves to be ranked where they are at No. 9 ahead of Alabama, a really good two-loss team with some great wins, and then a one-loss BYU team, and then Miami falls in accordingly.”

Yurachek went on to praise Miami quarterback Carson Beck’s recent performance and pointed out that the Hurricanes have been the rankings’ biggest riser, from No. 18 in the initial rankings on Nov. 4 to No. 12 this week.

Oregon’s move up to No. 6 created a juicy first-round matchup in the mock bracket vs. 11th seed Miami. That would pit Miami coach Mario Cristobal against his former school. It also created a potential first-round matchup between SEC rivals Ole Miss and Alabama in the 7-10 game.

Tulane remained at No. 24 as the only non-power-conference team in the Top 25. The Green Wave area the projected American Conference champion and the No. 12 seed in the bracket for the second week running.

There is still room for chaos in the final week of the regular season. Nine of the top 10 teams have to go on the road and many play their rivals — including Ohio State at No. 15 Michigan, Indiana at Purdue, Texas A&M at No. 16 Texas, Georgia at No. 23 Georgia Tech and Alabama at Auburn.

Kiffin will be coaching the Rebels in the Egg Bowl at Mississippi State on Friday, and his decision of whether to leave or stay with the program is expected to come the following day.

The CFP’s final rankings will be announced on Dec. 7, one day after the conference title games.

CFP mock bracket
First-round games:
–No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech
–No. 11 Miami at No. 6 Oregon
–No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Ole Miss
–No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma
First-round byes: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Georgia

CFP Top 25
1. Ohio State (11-0)
2. Indiana (11-0)
3. Texas A&M (11-0)
4. Georgia (10-1)
5. Texas Tech (10-1)
6. Oregon (10-1)
7. Ole Miss (10-1)
8. Oklahoma (9-2)
9. Notre Dame (9-2)
10. Alabama (9-2)
11. BYU (10-1)
12. Miami (9-2)
13. Utah (9-2)
14. Vanderbilt (9-2)
15. Michigan (9-2)
16. Texas (8-3)
17. Southern California (8-3)
18. Virginia (9-2)
19. Tennessee (8-3)
20. Arizona State (8-3)
21. SMU (8-3)
22. Pitt (8-3)
23. Georgia Tech (9-2)
24. Tulane (9-2)
25. Arizona (8-3)

–Field Level Media

Baylor AD Mack Rhoades taking leave, also stepping away as CFP chair

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Mack Rhoades is taking a leave from his job as athletic director at Baylor and also stepping away from his position as the College Football Playoff chairman, ESPN reported Thursday, citing personal reasons.

Per the report, Rhoades told ESPN that he informed the school he intended to leave his role for now but declined to provide a more specific reason.

Yahoo Sports reported that Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek is being nominated to serve as Rhoades’ replacement as CFP commitment chair. The Big 12 is recommending Utah AD Mark Harlan fill the spot on the board.

The university told ESPN that unspecified allegations were made against Rhoades on Monday that do not involve the football team or issues pertaining to student welfare, NCAA rules or Title IX.

Last month, he and tight end Michael Trigg reportedly had words about a shirt Trigg was wearing during Baylor’s Sept. 20 game against Arizona State. Baylor previously said in a news release that the alleged incident had been “thoroughly reviewed and investigated in accordance with University policies, appropriate actions were taken and the matter is now closed.”

Joyan Overshown, the deputy athletic director, and Cody Hall, a senior associate athletic director, will team to fill the AD job on an interim basis, ESPN reported. They are the athletic department’s COO and CFO, respectively.

Rhoades, 60, was appointed the Bears’ AD on July 13, 2016.

–Field Level Media