How Week 14 Altered the 2025 College Football Bowl Landscape

The 2025-26 college football regular season has concluded, with conference championship games deciding the final standings. The selection process for the College Football Playoff and the full slate of bowl games is now underway, with the official pairings to be announced.

Main News

The expanded 12-team College Football Playoff field is taking shape following the conference championship results. Projections indicate that the five highest-ranked conference champions will receive automatic bids. These teams are expected to include the winners of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC, along with a Group of Five conference champion.

Notre Dame, as an independent program, is projected to secure a high at-large bid. Other major conference teams that did not win their championships are also in contention for the remaining at-large spots. The final seeding and selections will be determined by the official College Football Playoff committee rankings.

Beyond the playoff, projections for the other New Year’s Six bowl games are also being finalized. These include the Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Cotton Bowl. Matchups for these games will feature highly-ranked teams that did not make the 12-team playoff field.

Summary

The college football season has ended, leading to the finalization of bowl game assignments. The new 12-team playoff format will include five automatic bids for conference champions and seven at-large selections.

Notre Dame is anticipated to be a high-seeded at-large team in the playoff. Several other powerful teams from the SEC, Big Ten, and other conferences are also projected to receive playoff bids based on their season performance.

The remaining New Year’s Six bowls will host the next tier of highly-ranked teams. The official playoff and bowl game pairings will be confirmed with the release of the committee’s final rankings.

FAQs

**How does the 12-team College Football Playoff work?**
The 12-team format awards automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions. The remaining seven spots are filled by the next highest-ranked teams, as determined by the selection committee.

Which teams get automatic bids to the playoff?
The automatic bids go to the five highest-ranked conference champions. This typically includes the champions from the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and the highest-ranked champion from the Group of Five conferences.

When will the official bowl game matchups be announced?
The official College Football Playoff pairings and the full schedule of bowl game matchups will be announced after the final selection committee rankings are released.