College football fans are in for a treat this coming season. The printable 2024-25 College Football Playoff bracket officially expands to 12 teams this coming postseason. The first round of the College Football Playoff schedule starts on Friday, December 20th, 2024. The National Championship game is on Monday, January 20th, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Georgia. All of the games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.
What has Changed with the College Football Playoff?
The most significant change in the College Football Playoff format is the number of teams who earn a spot. We now see a total of 12 teams based on a 5 + 7 model. Five conference champions with seven at-large teams. Before the implosion of the PAC-12 (down to two teams) it was going to be a 6 + 6 model. The five conferences will be the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and likely one from either the American, Conference USA, Mountain West, MAC, or Sun Belt conferences.
How Does Seeding Work in the Playoff?
Similar to past years, the seeding will be finalized by the College Football Playoff committee. There is a catch now; however, as the first four seeds will only be conference champions. These four teams will enjoy a first round bye in the new playoff format. It does not matter if they lost head-to-head against another team who made the postseason. Similarly, the current rules do not make an exception for an independent team like Notre Dame but could be changed as we get closer to the playoff if relevant.
Where is the First Round in the 2024-25 College Football Playoff?
In the first round of play in the college football playoff schedule, the higher seed will host the game in their home stadium. The higher seed also has the choice of hosting the game in another location if desired. For example, they could elect to play the game in a nearby NFL stadium that is larger for more seats. The first game in the opening round of the printable 2024-25 College Football Playoff bracket is on December 20th. The remaining first round games are on December 21st, 2024.
Printable 2024-25 College Football Playoff Bracket and Schedule
The high-level view of the 2024-25 college football playoff schedule is:
- CFB Playoff First Round: December 20-21, 2024
- Quarterfinals: December 31-January 1
- Semifinals: January 9-10, 2025
- CFB Playoff Championship: January 20, 2025 (7:30 PM ET)
How Do the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals Work?
For quarter final play, the games shift being played at the larger bowl game locations. The matchups are listed on the bracket and follow. 8 vs 9 to play the #1 seed, 5 vs 12 to play the #4 seed, and the winner between those teams plays for the championship. For the other part of the bracket, 7 vs 10 to play the #2 seed, and 6 vs 11 to play the #3 seed with the winner also making the championship game. For the 2024-25 CFB playoff schedule, the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl is on December 31st, 2024. The other games (Peach Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl) will be held on January 1st, 2025.
Where are the College Football Playoff Semifinals and Championship Held?
The 2024-25 College Football Playoff Semifinals is on Thursday, January 9th, 2025, at the Capital One Orange Bowl. The second game will be on Friday, January 10th in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be on Monday, January 20th, 2025, in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The locations of games and dates will change a bit for the 2025-26 College Football Playoff. We may or may not see adjustments to some of the seeding rules based on how the 2024-25 seeding for the games goes.
Printable 2024-25 College Football Playoff Bracket
We have a printable 2024-25 college football playoff bracket posted for fans to enjoy in PDF and image (JPG) formats. Please feel free to use and share as you would like. All of the dates and locations for the college football playoff schedule are set. The College Football playoff committee will announce specific times and television broadcast schedules for the games as we get closer to playoff time. Stay tuned. In the first year after Nick Saban retiring, it will definitely be interesting to see how the Alabama Crimson Tide perform as well as other teams who made the 2023 College Football Playoff like Washington, Michigan, and the Texas Longhorns.
