CFP Ranking Predictions: Who would make the 2025 College Football Playoff if the season ended now?

For the first time, the College Football Playoff will feature 12 teams instead of the previous four. This gives more FBS teams the opportunity to compete for a national championship in the postseason.

It’s still early, but fans of all the teams that have a legitimate chance of making it to the CFP are also keeping an eye on some other high-profile programs as the season progresses. Any significant loss, such as Notre Dame’s loss to Northern Illinois, will impact the postseason picture.

What would the CFP look like if the season ended after Week 10, as there are still many weeks ahead where that could change?

College playoff rankings

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its latest rankings on Tuesday, November 26th. So if the season ended now, the teams in the CFP would be:

• #1 Oregon
• No. 2 Texas
• No. 3 Miami
• No. 4 Boise State
• No. 5 Ohio State
• No. 6 Penn State
• No. 7 Notre Dame
• No. 8 Georgia
• No. 9 Tennessee
• No. 10 SMU
• No. 11 Indiana
• No. 12 Clemson

CFP betting odds

Here are the teams with the best college football betting odds to win the CFP via BetMGM:

• Oregon +350
• Georgia +450
• Ohio State +450
• Texas +450
• Notre Dame +900
• Penn State +1000
• Tennessee +1800
• Alabama +2200
• SMU +3000

CFP Bracket Predictions

I expect Texas, Oregon, SMU and Boise State to be the top four teams in the College Football Playoff at the end of the season.

I expect Arizona State to be the second-highest winner of the conference championship, and I believe the CFP selection committee will rank the Sun Devils at No. 11.

From there, I expect Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Tennessee, Penn State, Indiana and Notre Dame to be in the CFP.

2025 CFP Playoff National Championship Predictions

I predict Texas will play Penn State in the College Football Playoff Championship and Texas will win.

Right now, I think the Longhorns are the best team in college football, no matter who is at quarterback. And I believe that even after the loss to Georgia.

It’s especially difficult to expect teams to win the SEC and Big Ten since those two conferences are always loaded with talent, and it’s especially difficult this year since Texas is now in the SEC and Oregon is now in the Big Ten .

But from my perspective, Texas and Penn State are the most complete teams and would be best prepared to advance through a daunting CFP round.

2024 CFP Selection Show schedule

The College Football Playoff Selection Show airs Sunday, December 8th at noon ET on ESPN.

This is where the CFP Selection Committee will release its rankings throughout the season.

What is the CFP?

The College Football Playoff is a postseason system that currently has 12 teams competing for the national championship. The CFP was introduced in 2014.

Before this year, the two teams that played for the national title were dedicated by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The top two ranked teams would compete for the championship, while the next highest ranked teams would compete in other bowl games.

Then in 2014, the College Football Playoff was introduced, allowing four teams to compete, with two semifinal contests and a title game.

Ohio State won its first CFP title. Alabama won the most national championships during the four-team CFP era with three wins.

But now the CFP will enter a new phase in 2024.

This season, for the first time, 12 teams will take part in the College Football Playoff.

The top five ranked conference champions in the FBS – determined by the CFP selection committee – will make the field, as will the top seven ranked teams that have not won a conference title.

The four highest-ranked conference title winners will receive a bye, while the remaining teams will face off in the first round.

The teams seeded higher in these matches will host in the first round. The top four conference winners with the bye receive a bowl game, such as the Sugar Bowl, and the four teams that play in the two semifinal games are also assigned to another bowl.

No re-seeding will be made, nor will any changes be made to avoid rematches from the regular season or competitions between teams in the same conference.

The first round of the CFP will be played on Friday, December 20th and Saturday, December 21st. The CFP quarterfinals will take place on Tuesday, December 31st and Wednesday, January 1st. The CFP semifinals will take place on Thursday, January 9th and Friday, January 10th.

In the first round, the number 12 seeded team plays against the number 5 seeded team. The No. 9 team will go on the road to face the No. 8 team. The No. 11 team will travel to face the No. 6 team. And the No. 10 team will face the No. 7 team.

The winner of the 5/12 matchup will face the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals. Whoever wins the 8/9 competition will play against the top seeded team. The winner of the 6/11 contest will next face the No. 3 seed. And whoever wins the 7/10 battle will face the No. 2 seeded team.

In the semi-finals, the winners of the games involving the number 1 seeded team and the number 4 seeded team will meet and the winner of the games involving the number 3 seeded team and the number 2 seeded team will also play in the semi-finals.

The winners of these two competitions will meet again in the national championship.

CFP Championship schedule

The national championship will be played on Monday, January 20, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.