The 2024-25 College Football Playoff bracket is set. All that remains is to play the matches and choose a national champion. This process will actually begin on Friday December 20 when (7) Notre Dame hosts (10) Indiana in what will be the first first round match in the event’s history, but there will be a lot written and spoken on the board over the next two weeks.
What most want to know, of course, is which team is most likely to win the national title. Will it be (1) Oregon who becomes the first 17-0 team in college football history? Could (6) State of Pennsylvania bounce back from its slim loss in the Big Ten Championship Game to reel off a string of high-profile victories that have been historically rare under coach James Franklin? Could (3) Boise State or (4) Arizona State break through as unexpected teams receive first-round byes despite terrific performances throughout the season? Or could we see (2) Georgiathe only recent national title winner in the entire field, cruised through all three to win another crown?
With 134 FBS teams now reduced to 12, all that’s left to do is make choices. Our CBS Sports experts have done just that below. We’ve spent months watching, analyzing, and screening games, and now we’ve filled out our categories using all that accumulated knowledge to try to guide you in your own choices.
Consider them as cheat sheets, if you will, while you make your own predictions ahead of the launch of the first expanded PCP later this month.
2024-25 College Football Playoff Bracket Picks
Dennis Dodd
A little chalky from Dennis with Tennessee on Ohio State as the only real upset on the field. Penn State vs. Boise State is certainly an upset in seeding, but the Nittany Lions have been seeded higher than the Broncos all season. Dennis leads Georgia to its third national title in the last four years.
Tom Fornelli
Lots of confidence in the Fighting Irish from Tom, who sees Notre Dame successively defeat Indiana, Georgia and Penn State to reach the CFP national championship. Not as much confidence in ND as anyone else, though, as Tom has Oregon avoiding any Big Ten rematches on the way to the program’s first national title.
Chip Patterson
Dabo Swinney has clearly won Chip over. Picking seed #12, three losses Clemson winning two games seems like the most dramatic projection all of our experts are making given the Tigers are starting in the first round. Well…maybe not…
Richard Johnson
It would be quite a journey for Notre Dame and coach Marcus Freeman if Richard was about to see the Fighting Irish win their first national championship since 1988. That would include Notre Dame defeating offensive powerhouse Indiana, eliminating the national champions 2021-22 in Georgia. and eliminate the only undefeated team in the country. Luck of the Irish, indeed.
Shehan Jeyarajah
The Ponies have legs for Shehan…but not as many as the Buckeyes. Will Ohio State go from losing at home to its biggest rival – as a two-touchdown favorite – to winning four straight games (including a rematch over Oregon) before winning its first title national in a decade?
John Talty
John clearly got a glimpse of Dennis’ homework on this one, but there’s really no reason to doubt Oregon and Georgia given their performances in the conference title game. What will be curious is to know if Carson Beck is capable of playing for the Bulldogs given he will have an extra week to rehabilitate given the quarterfinal bye. This is one of four brackets to choose Tennessee over Ohio State.
Brandon Marcello
Brandon projects a rematch of the Big Ten Championship Game in the CFP National Championship, which would certainly be something the conference could hang its hat on. Will the SEC really only win two games total in the entire postseason?
Brad Crawford
Well, at least someone believes in Texas. Although the Longhorns technically have four ranked wins on the season, none of those teams are still in the top 25. Brad still believes Texas will win four straight games against top 16 teams, knocking out Oregon undefeated and a beaten Georgia team. UT twice already – en route to national title. Okay, cool. Hang them.