The College Football Playoff (CFP) is a postseason event to determine college football’s national champion on the field, while emphasizing the significance of college football’s unique regular season where every game counts.
Jan. 25
2027 CFP National Championship
The selection committee ranks the schools based on the members’ evaluation of their performance on the field, using strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and comparison of results against common opponents.
The 12 participating schools will be the conference champions from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Southeastern Conference and the highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Pac-12 Conference or Sun Belt Conference, along with the next seven highest-ranked teams. The University of Notre Dame will be included in the playoff if it is ranked among the top 12 teams in the final rankings.
The four highest-ranked schools will be seeded one through four and will receive a first-round bye. The remaining schools will be seeded 5-12 based on their final ranking.
If any of the automatic qualifiers falls outside of the top 12, they will be seeded at the bottom of the 12-team pool. If any are not ranked in the top 25, the committee will evaluate the team(s) using its established selection criteria and determine their relative positions for seeding purposes and seed them at the bottom of the 12-team pool.
CFP First Round Higher Seed Hosts
CFP Quarterfinal Winner
CFP Quarterfinal Winner
CFP Quarterfinal Winner
CFP Quarterfinal Winner
CFP Semifinal Winner
CFP Semifinal Winner
Championship Monday
The two teams that win the CFP Semifinals compete for the College Football Playoff National Championship. The national championship game is in a different city each year, always on a Monday night.
Universal Access
Every Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team has equal access to the College Football Playoff based on its performance during the regular season. No team automatically qualifies.
University presidents and chancellors from all 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame serve as the CFP Board of Managers and govern the abusiness, property and affairs of the CFP. The board develops, reviews and approves annual budgets, policies and operating guidelines. It also appoints and removes officers of the CFP. It has authority over all aspects of the company’s operations.
The commissioners from all 10 FBS conferences and the athletics director at Notre Dame comprise the CFP Management Committe, which manages the CFP's day-to-day operations. It has authority over those aspects of the CFP’s operations that are not reserved exclusively for the board, but all of its decisions are subject to review by the board.
A small staff in the CFP office in Irving, Texas, carries out the day-to-day responsibilities.
A dedicated group of high-integrity football experts, with experience as coaches, student-athletes, college administrators and journalists, along with sitting athletics directors, comprise the CFP Selection Committee. The selection committee is responsible for ranking the top 25 teams, assigning the schools to the 12-team playoff bracket, and assigning the CFP Quarterfinal and CFP Semifinal bowl sites.
