College Football Playoff Bracket is Set

In this new era of college football, featuring a 12-team playoff for the first time, we have several “new” conference champions playing for the national championship.

The Pac-12 was inferior to the rest of the college football product, and it became expendable after last season. One year later, two former Pac-12 teams are champions of their new conferences, with Oregon winning the Big Ten and Arizona State taking the title in the Big 12.

Texas was new to the SEC this season, and came within overtime of winning the conference in its first try. SMU was playing in the ACC for the first time in 2024, and they were a miracle field goal away from knocking off Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

First Round Byes

Undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation, Oregon is the top seed in the CFP. At +350, they are co-favorites with Texas to win the national championship.

Georgia has a bye as the SEC champion, and they are +380 to win the championship. Arizona State sneaks into a bye as the 12th-ranked team, although there was nothing quiet about the way they made it. The Sun Devils won six straight to end the season and easily beat Iowa State, 45-19, in the Big 12 Championship Game.

The last of the four byes goes to Boise State, the 12-1 Mountain West champions who finished the season with 11 straight wins.

ASU is +6000 to win the national championship, and Boise State is the biggest longshot at +7000.

First Round Matchups

Indiana at Notre Dame (-7.5)

Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois early in the season, and it looked like they were destined to miss the CFP. But 10 wins later and Notre Dame is hosting a first-round game as the No. 7 seed.

Indiana will be in South Bend for this Friday, December 20 kickoff after finishing the season with just one loss to Ohio State.

The winner of this game will play at Georgia.

SMU at Penn State (-9)

Penn State doesn’t have any signature wins in 2024. But they do have a lot of wins, only losing to Ohio State and Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game. But that was enough for the committee to make them the No. 6 seed, and have them at home and hosting SMU.

SMU was a late field goal away from winning the ACC and getting a likely first-round bye. Now they will be in Western Pennsylvania on Saturday, December 21, where they are nine-point underdogs.

The winner of this game will go to Boise State.

Clemson at Texas (-11)

Texas had its chances to beat Georgia, win the SEC, and get a first-round bye. Instead, they are hosting a first-round game with the ACC Champion Clemson Tigers. Dabo Swinney’s team upset SMU with a last-second field goal, and instead of missing the CFP, they are in for a seventh time in 10 years.

The winner of this game goes to Tempe, Arizona, to play Arizona State.

Tennessee at Ohio State (-7.5)

Ohio State did not finish the season on a high-note. Losing at home to a down Michigan team is unacceptable, and can only be forgiven with a national championship. The quest will begin at home on Saturday night, December 21.

OSU is just over a touchdown favorite against a Tennessee team that beat Alabama this season, and whose only loss over the last two months was to Georgia. The Vols were the third SEC team to get into the CFP, getting the slot over the Crimson Tide and Mississippi.

The winner of this game goes to Eugene to play Oregon.