NCAAF
2025 College
Football Playoff
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The 2025 College Football Playoff first round continues with No. 10 Miami taking on No. 7 Texas A&M in College Station. The winner will advance to face No. 2 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
Follow for live play-by-play updates and the latest news and analysis from The Athletic’s college football staff.
This has been one of the most entertaining college football seasons in recent memory. Neither of the top two teams in the preseason AP Top 25, Texas or Penn State, made the College Football Playoff. Nor did No. 4 Clemson or No. 6 Notre Dame. In fact, just five of the preseason top 17 made the field.
With such an interesting mix in this Playoff field, what do the real experts — the coaches themselves — think?
We polled more than two dozen coaches from the Power 4 and Group of 5 and asked them: Who will win it all? Who is the biggest fraud? Who is the best coach and the biggest sleeper?
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It is so much fun and exciting that we have four more College Football Playoff games this weekend. But who has the best home-field advantage this weekend? Our Matt Baker takes a look at each of the stadiums and environments this weekend.
I argued a few weeks back that the Aggies might have the most tortured fan base of any big-time program in all of college football. They have not won a national title since 1939, despite the best efforts of a terrifyingly large percentage of this country’s oil and gas revenue. We could theoretically have a Ryan Day problem on our hands, though: It’s great that you won the national title and all, but next time, you’d better beat Texas.
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What would a national title mean for every College Football Playoff team?
Maybe in the end it’ll still be a blue blood. Maybe Ohio State will hoist the national championship trophy for the second consecutive year, or Georgia for the third time in five years. Alabama is still hanging around, too.
There’s also a chance this becomes the first year in nearly three decades that college football gets a first-time champion. Florida, in 1996, was the last to do it. The Gators have won two more since then to assume a place among the blue bloods, a perch that was hard to join. This year, a bunch are threatening to do it.
Check out each team’s championship pedigree.
All the problems the ACC had this year vanish in an instant: It turns out the conference had a powerhouse all along. (It still probably needs to fix those tiebreakers.) All those celebrity Miami fans who have been hiding out for the last 30 years or so, apparently too busy to actually attend any Hurricanes games in that time, will be everywhere: A-Rod will ascend to heretofore unattainable levels of insufferable. Jon Sumrall’s job at Florida gets that much harder, and it’s possible Mike Norvell is too afraid to come out of his house until April. Also, welcome back to the Instagram discourse, Carson Beck. It’s safe to return again.
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What would a national title mean for every College Football Playoff team?
Oregon fans likely won’t have much to sweat when the Ducks welcome James Madison to Autzen Stadium tonight. But I wonder if more than a few of them are interested in this game, which can be the start of a perfect Saturday in Ducks territory.
First, Oregon coach Mario Cristobal — whose penchant for losing close games has followed him to Miami — stumbles again in College Station, and the Canes lose today. Then, hours after his predecessor has been humiliated, Dan Lanning leads Oregon to a demolition of an overwhelmed Group of 5 opponent for his first Playoff win as a head coach and Oregon’s first Playoff win since the 2014 Rose Bowl.
This year’s College Football Playoff reflects the adage that you get what you pay for.
The 12-team field includes the four teams with the largest football budgets, the nation’s two highest-paid coaches and three of the four highest-paid general managers. It also sets up a potential quarterfinal matchup where one head coach makes more than his competitor’s entire recent football budget.
A few standard financial disclaimers: Different programs run their numbers differently. Budgets change yearly, and some figures are murky or missing, especially regarding private schools and NIL. Even with those caveats, we can still get a broad sense of how the 12 CFP contenders stack up against one another financially.
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How do College Football Playoff teams compare financially? The gap can be tens of millions
What should you know about the environments in Norman, College Station, Oxford and Eugene before this weekend’s College Football Playoff games? Our college football staff took a look at the stadiums (and more) that will host the four games.
Mario Cristobal has Miami in the College Football Playoff. But the question remains: Is he a good coach? Our Manny Navarro breaks down that question and takes a look at the answer.
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Mario Cristobal has Miami in the Playoff, but question remains: Is he a good coach?
We are certainly in a new era in college football, with recruiting and the transfer portal being two different avenues to building a roster. So how did the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff build their rosters?
Our Sam Khan has the answer to that key question.
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For each CFP team, what’s been most important for roster building? Portal or recruiting?
It’ll be strength vs. strength on the line of scrimmage when Texas A&M has the ball.
Texas A&M offensive tackle Trey Zuhn downplayed the threat of star Miami edge rusher Reuben Bain Jr. when asked about the matchup:
💬 “I don’t think he’ll be a threat we need to worry about too much.”
Bain refused to get into a war of words when asked about Zuhn’s comments:
💬 “God bless those guys. They're just playing football the way they play it.”
Bain was included in the top 10 in Dane Brugler’s most recent 2026 NFL mock draft.
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Texas A&M is finally on the big stage. But is it ready? Our Sam Khan takes a look at that question and shares the answer as the Aggies prepare for the College Football Playoff.
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Texas A&M’s moment has finally arrived — can the Aggies deliver on the big stage?
Texas A&M and Miami will face off for the sixth time this afternoon, with Miami leading the all-time series 3-2.
Miami and Texas A&M will both make their College Football Playoff debuts today. One will go home unhappy!
We’ll have to make do without a lot of the best of the best in this year’s College Football Playoff Hater’s Guide. It’s a rebuilding year, to be kind, and it looked so promising in the preseason.
We should have James “Big Game” Franklin, Lane “Changed Man” Kiffin and Brian “Someone Please Hire Me” Kelly in the field. Dabo Swinney should be here, convincing us that his team’s improved rush defense in 2025 was the result of a miracle. Texas, with Steve Sarkisian hearing all about his genius and Arch Manning toting the Heisman Trophy, is a wonderful CFP villain. Instead, Sark’s making empty threats about nonleague scheduling, Manning needed a late surge for an OK season, and Texas is out.
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College Football Playoff Hater’s Guide: Kiffin, Kelly and the Irish are with us in spirit
Alabama was the first team to advance in this year’s College Football Playoff, beating Oklahoma 34-24 last night. And it made some history in doing so, becoming the first road team to win in the 12-team format.
If you missed any of our live coverage of the game, check it out here.
Kyle Field, which seats 102,733 after a major renovation in the early 2010s, is home to the Texas A&M Aggies. That makes it the fourth-largest stadium in the United States and the largest in the state of Texas. Despite the early kickoff today, the “Home of the 12th Man” is expected to be packed out as Kyle Field becomes the sixth on-campus stadium to host a first-round College Football Playoff game.
Today’s Miami-Texas A&M game can be seen on ABC and ESPN.
You can also stream the game on Fubo (Watch Now)
ESPN’s Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (analyst), Molly McGrath (sideline reporter) and Taylor McGregor (sideline reporter) will be on the call.
Today’s College Football Playoff game between Miami and Texas A&M kicks off at 12 p.m. ET. That’s 11 a.m. CT, local time in College Station, Texas.
