College Football Playoff 2025: Best Odds, Format Details for 12-Team Field

The College Football Playoff debuts a new look this upcoming season as the typical 4-team field expands to 12. On top of that, the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 will introduce new members as the Pac-12 dwindles from 12 teams down to just 2. It’s still the college football we all know and love, but at first some things may feel a little… strange.

Before we get into the new 12-team format, a look at the history of the CFP and so much more, let’s take a look at the latest odds for the 2024-25 CFP champion! That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?

Georgia currently has the best odds to get back on track after missing out on the 4-team field last season. The Dawgs are followed by Ohio State and Texas.

Some of the best sportsbooks across the country have their own future odds for the upcoming champion, conference champion, over/under totals and so much more. The start of the college football season may be months away, but the hype never stops!

The New Format: What Will A 12-Team Field Look Like?

As with seemingly everything to do with college football lately, conference realignment necessitated some changes from the original plan for the 12-team field. Here’s a look at the new-look rules:

Who Gets in? The 5 + 7 Model

In February 2024, The CFP Board of Managers officially approved the switch to a 5 + 7 format. This means that the 5 highest rated conference champions will receive a bid to the field. The other 7 schools will be the highest rated teams remaining in the CFP poll, which ranks the top 25 teams in the country and is created by a 13-member selection committee. More on them later.

Here’s what that will look like in action, barring shocking developments: The SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 will each get their conference champion in. The final conference champion will be from a “Group of 5” conference. For example, if the 12-team field were in action in 2023-24, Liberty out of C-USA would have been that final team to make the tournament under this format.

The top 4 conference champions will get a first-round bye. Seeds 5-12 will then be matched up in the 4 first-round games.

But… Not For Long?

In mid-March the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed to the 2026 CFP contract, extending the updated field at least one more season past 2024-25.

This is significant because it is highly believed that the field will soon move from 12 teams to 14 teams, with an emphasis on making the change the case in the 2026 season. The idea to expand has momentum right now, but the plan may not be finalized for some time.

So why is the CFP looking to expand despite having not played a single game of expansion football? The idea is to have the 5 conference champions and instead of the next 7 best teams, it would expand to the next 9 best teams.

Though some fans may be against expansion, it makes sense that schools would vote yes to this plan: It’s just a higher chance to get your program into the CFP which means better recruiting numbers and more games to generate revenue.

For now, we’re in hurry up and wait mode.

Where and When Will These Games Be Played?

Seeds 5-12 will play their first round games on the campus of the higher-ranked team. The games will be as follows: 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, 8 vs. 9. One of these games will take place on Dec. 20 while the other 3 will be played on Dec. 21, 2024.

When there are just 8 teams remaining, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played at New Year’s Six bowl sites. The No. 1 seed gets the highest preference on location and so on down the seed list.

Similar to March Madness, there will be no re-seeding. The winner of the 8 v. 9 game will face the 1-seed, the 7 v. 10 will face the 2-seed, the 6 v. 11 will play the 3-seed and the 5 v. 12 will face the 4-seed. Here are the dates for each NY6 Bowl (quarterfinals and semifinals) for next season:

• Fiesta Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal): Dec. 31, 2024 in Phoenix, AZ
• Peach Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal): Jan. 1, 2025 in Atlanta, GA
• Rose Bowl CFP Quarterfinal): Jan. 1, 2025 in Pasadena, CA
• Sugar Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal): Jan. 1, 2025 in New Orleans, LA
• Orange Bowl (CFP Semifinal): Jan. 9, 2025 in Miami, FL
• Cotton Bowl (CFP Semifinal): Jan. 10, 2025 in Dallas, TX
• CFP Championship: Jan. 20, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia.

The first 2 seasons of the updated College Football Playoff format are kind of like a trial run. There is no guarantee this model extends past the 2026 season, and if it does it’s likely that some tinkering will be done to ensure the most important games in the sport are being played in the best conditions possible.

The 13-member Committee

The 2024-25 College Football Playoff Selection Committee is comprised of the following 13 members of former coaches, current athletic directors, journalists, former players and more.

This roster will vote on the College Football Playoff Rankings during the season and the final field at the end of conference championships:

• Chris Ault: Former QB, HC at Nevada
• Patrick Chun: Washington State AD (Athletic Director)
• Chet Gladchuk: Navy AD, former Houston AD
• Jim Grobe: Former coach at Ohio, Wake Forest and Baylor
• Warde Manuel: Michigan AD
• Randall McDaniel: Pro Football HoF, former All-American guard at Arizona State
• Gary Pinkel: Former HC, Mizzou and Toledo. College Football HoF
• Mack Rhoades: Vice President, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Baylor
• David Sayler: Miami AD
• Will Shields: Pro Football HoF lineman, Nebraska
• Kelly Whiteside: USA Today Writer, Prof. at Montclair State
• Carla Williams: Virginia AD
• Hunter Yurachek: Arkansas AD

How Are Teams Chosen?

The following text comes straight from the CFP Website:

“The selection committee ranks the teams based on the members’ evaluation of the teams’ performance on the field, using conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and comparison of results against common opponents to decide among teams that are comparable.”

To start, each member of the committee will be asked to write a list of 30 teams they believe are the best in the country. Only teams listed by 3 or more members will remain under consideration. According to the CFP website, “At the conclusion of any round, other teams can be added to the group of teams under consideration by a vote of three or more members.”

From there, each member will list their 6 best teams from that remaining group of 25-30 in no particular order. The 6 teams with the most votes will become the pool for the first “ranking step.”

Here are the remaining steps to fulfill a top 25, in order:

1. Each member of the committee will rank the 6 most-voted-on teams as voted on. The best team in each member’s ranking will receive 1 point. The second best will receive 2 points, etc. The 3 teams with the fewest points will become the top 3 seeds. The other 3 teams are funneled into step 2…
2. Each member will return to the full pool of teams and pick the 6 best of the group, with seeds 1-3 already chosen.
3. Steps 1 and 2 will be repeated until 25 teams have been seeded through 7 rounds of “listing steps” and “ranking steps.”

Not confusing at all, right Florida State fans?

The Bowls

Any big time college football fan has heard of the New Year’s Six bowl games. They’re the best of the best and have provided some incredible moments throughout the history of this great sport!

The 2 semifinal rounds will continue to rotate between the 6 bowl games: The Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, Orange and Cotton bowls. Next season, the Orange and Cotton Bowl will host the CFP Semifinal rounds.

Here’s a brief history on each bowl game:

Rose Bowl

The Granddaddy of them all! The Rose Bowl Game first started in 1902 in Pasadena, California at Tournament Park, originally titled “Tournament East–West football game.” It ran for just 1 year in 1902 to fund the Rose Parade and the venue was instead used for races until 1916, when football resumed. In case you’re wondering, Michigan downed Stanford in the first contest, 49-0. Stanford quit in the 3rd quarter.

In 1923, the game moved to the Rose Bowl after years at Tournament Park. USC defeated Penn State in the first ever appropriately titled Rose Bowl matchup. USC, naturally, has the most Rose Bowl victories all-time with 12. The Trojans have made 19 appearances.

The Pac-12 and Big Ten traditionally play at the Rose Bowl. In 1998 when the BCS arrived, there was some shakeup and the Rose Bowl was twice used as the site for the National Championship game, including the legendary clash between USC and Texas in 2006. The same process continued with the introduction of the College Football Playoff.

Here’s a list of Rose Bowl winners across the past 15 seasons:

Fiesta Bowl

The Fiesta Bowl is the newest of the 6 bowls in the CFP. Its inception came in 1971 and was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium (Home of Arizona State) from 1971-2006. From there, it moved to the State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

The Fiesta Bowl hosted the first BCS National Championship game in 1998 where Tennessee downed Florida State. It became a permanent contest in the BCS rotation. It served with a tie-in for the Big 12 from 1997-2013.

Here are the winners of the Fiesta Bowl across the past 15 years:

Sugar Bowl

Apart from the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl is the oldest Championship-affiliated bowl on this page alongside the Orange Bowl. Both started on January 1, 1935.

The Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) started at Tulane stadium and moved to the Superdome in 1975. Since its start, the Sugar bowl has held a tie-in with the SEC; unofficially from 1935-1975 and officially from 1976 onward. The Big 12 has competed in the game as a tie-in since 2015.

The Sugar Bowl has been played outside New Orleans only once. In 2006, the game was temporarily moved to Atlanta, Georgia following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Here are the winners of the past 15 Sugar Bowls:

Peach Bowl

The Peach Bowl started at Grant Field in 1968 and moved venues to the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1971 and finally the Georgia dome in 1993. The game almost always featured teams from the ACC and SEC.

Here’s a list of the past 15 years of Peach Bowl winners:

Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl has been held in Miami since January 1, 1935 and is one of the longest-tenured bowls in college football. Its roots can be traced back over 40 years prior, when the idea for the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena gave way to the Rose Bowl in 1902. Organizers in Miami wanted to do something similar in 1926 and started the “Fiesta of the American Tropics” with a game in 1926.

This was not technically the Orange bowl, however. The Festival was revived under a new name in 1932; the “Palm Festival,” which was a predecessor to the Orange Bowl we know today.

The Orange Bowl originally had a relationship with the Big Eight conference, but upon its disbandment in 1996 is moved to a bowl tie-in with the ACC in 1999.

The ACC now plays a team from the SEC or B1G, while also holding the potential to host Notre Dame as an independent. That started with the dissolution of the BCS in 2014.

Here are the winners of the past 15 Orange Bowls:

Cotton Bowl

Ah, the Cotton Bowl Classic. The Texan bowl has been live since 1937 when it was originally held at its namesake, the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. It was held there until 2010 when it then moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, where the Dallas Cowboys play.

The game used to tie in the top team in the SWC and a runner-up from another top conference (often the SEC), until the former was disbanded in 1996. Following the SWC’s cessation, the Big 12 runner-up started participating in the bowl against an SEC team until 2014. Now, it’s one of 6 rotating CFP bowls.

Here are the winners of the past 15 Cotton Bowl Classics

The Evolution of the College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff 4-team format took over for the BCS Championship format that had stood since 1998. The BCS relied on a combination of polls and computer metrics that pitted the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country against the other. The BCS was discontinued in 2014.

The CFP partnered with ESPN in 2014 and featured a 4-team playoff for the first time in the sport’s history. Of course, the top 4 teams were ranked by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee as highlighted in the section above.

The New Year’s Six Bowl games rotated as host sites for the semifinals, starting with the Sugar and Rose Bowls.

College Football Playoff Odds History

Let’s take a look at the historical odds of past College Football Playoff fields. Here are some notable mentions:

• The biggest preseason favorite to reach the CFP was the 2019 Clemson Tigers. Ahead of the 2019 season, Clemson had staggering -550 odds to reach to the semifinal round. Of course, Clemson rolled to a 13-0 start, beating Virginia in the ACC Championship Game to reach the four-team field.
• Conversely, Georgia, while not exactly known as a traditional underdog, was +825 to make the field ahead of the 2017 season. That Bulldogs team raced out to a 9-0 start before slipping up at Auburn. Georgia would get revenge a few weeks later in the SEC Championship Game with a 28-7 win over the Tigers that punched their ticket to the CFP Semifinal Round. Of course, Alabama went on to win that season.
• The Bulldogs’ incredible 2021 team was also an underdog to reach the CFP in the preseason, sitting at +660

Below, let’s explore the year-by-year history of College Football Playoff odds.

2023-24 College Football Playoff

Michigan went through plenty of controversy in 2023, but it’s hard to argue the Wolverines were not the best team in college football. A deadly rushing attack mixed with strong QB play from JJ McCarthy and a stellar defense blitzed the way to a 15-0 record with wins over Ohio State, Penn State, Alabama and Washington.

The Wolverines had the 4th-best odds to win the title preseason, behind rival Ohio State.

• Georgia (+225)
• Alabama (+600)
• Ohio State (+600)
• Michigan (+1000)

Winner: Michigan

2022-23 College Football Playoff

Georgia was thought to regress in 2022 after a good chunk of its legendary 2021 defense was drafted to the NFL. Instead, the Bulldogs were stout across the board, winning their 2nd straight national title.

Their odds weren’t as low in 2022 as they were in 2021, but Georgia was still only the 3rd favorite to win the title.

• Alabama (+181)
• Ohio State (+304)
• Georgia (+380)
• Clemson (+1020)

Winner: Georgia

2021-22 College Football Playoff

Anyone who chose the Bulldogs as preseason favorites to win the title earned a solid payday come January. The Bulldogs’ 2021 defense was one of the best the sport has ever seen, and it earned Kirby Smart his first title as HC and Georgia’s first since 1980.

At +600 odds? Not half bad.

• Alabama (+250)
• Clemson (+460)
• Georgia (+600)
• Ohio State (+600)

Winner: Georgia

2020-21 College Football Playoff

After missing the CFP in 2019, Alabama reaffirmed its dominance in 2020 with a title game win over Ohio State for it’s 3rd CFP title.

The Tide weren’t preseason favorites to win the title, though. That honor went to Clemson:

• Clemson (+200)
• Alabama (+240)
• Georgia (+900)
• Ohio State (+1000)

Winner: Alabama

2019-20 College Football Playoff

Following a run of CFP appearances, oddsmakers juiced up the Tigers to a staggering -550 to make the field. Dabo Swinney’s team took care of business en route to an ACC Championship and CFP berth. The field included:

• Clemson (-55o)
• Oklahoma (+180)
• Ohio State (+230)
• LSU (+500)

Of course, the Tigers would go on to win it all–an outcome not many anticipated prior to the start of the season. Something else oddsmakers didn’t see coming was Alabama (-300) missing out on a playoff appearance.

Winner: LSU

2018-19 College Football Playoff

The 2018 College Football Playoff featured a pair of big-time favorites in Alabama and Clemson along with a pair underdogs that, well, frankly, we are classifying as such loosely in Oklahoma and Notre Dame. Their preseason odds to make the playoff:

• Alabama (-270)
• Clemson (-175)
• Oklahoma (+330)
• Notre Dame (+600)

Ohio State (+115) and Georgia (+180) were among the teams with the best preseason odds that failed to qualify.

Winner: Clemson

2017-18 College Football Playoff

The Crimson Tide entered 2017 as the overwhelming favorite to reach the playoff field at -230. They were joined by another top preseason favorite in Oklahoma and second-tier favorite Clemson. That season, it was. the Georgia Bulldogs that surprisingly crashed the party with +825 preseason odds. This year was a rare year in which a conference sent two teams to the playoff. The participants and odds included:

• Alabama (-230)
• Clemson (+550)
• Georgia (+825)
• Oklahoma (+260)

Winner: Alabama 

2016-17 College Football Playoff

This was a year in which oddsmakers (mostly) nailed the field in the preseason. Three of the four teams (Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State) were among the top four schools with the best preseason odds. Only Washington (+500) was a bit of a surprise to the party. Here’s how the participants’ preseason odds stacked up:

• Alabama (+125)
• Clemson (+155)
• Ohio State (+195)
• Washington (+500)

It was a bit of a surprise that the Baker Mayfield-led Sooners (+175) missed out on the field, but the 11-2 Sooners never recovered after losing two of their first three games.

Winner: Clemson

2015-16 College Football Playoff

The 2015 field was one of the rare years that featured multiple surprises. CFP staple Alabama was joined by Clemson, Michigan State and Oklahoma. In the cases of Clemson and Oklahoma, keep in mind that 2015 was a season in which not too many people saw championship upside in these schools.

• Alabama (+190)
• Clemson (+525)
• Michigan State (+550)
• Oklahoma (+800)

TCU was among the schools with the best preseason odds at +190, but the Horned Frogs fell short after a heartbreaking 30-29 loss to Oklahoma just before Thanksgiving.

Winner: Alabama

2014-15 College Football Playoff

The first year of the current format featured heavy preseason favorites such as Florida State, Alabama and Oregon as well as a Ohio State. The inaugural field:

• Alabama (-120)
• Florida State (-250)
• Ohio State (+500)
• Oregon (+125)

Winner: Ohio State

College Football Playoff Appearances by School

Clemson and Alabama each lead the way with 6 College Football Playoff appearances and 2 national titles. Georgia also joins the list with 2 Playoff titles. A look at the full list by schools.

College Football Playoff Appearances by Conference

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the SEC leads the way in terms of College Football Playoff appearances, wins, win percentage, qualifying teams and titles. Here is a look at CFP performance by conference.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.