2024–25 College Football Playoff

2024–25 College Football Playoff
Season2024
Semifinals
Championship
Teams invited
ChampionsOhio State (2nd CFP title, 9th overall title)

The 2024–25 College Football Playoff was a single-elimination postseason tournament that determined the national champion of the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 11th edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP).

Following the first 10 iterations of the College Football Playoff comprising four teams, the 2024–25 playoff was the first to include 12 teams as ranked by the College Football Playoff poll. The five highest-ranked conference champions, including at least one from the Group of Five conferences, were selected to compete, along with the next seven highest-ranked teams. Furthermore, this was the only iteration of the 12-team playoff where the four highest-ranked conference champions each received a first-round bye in the playoff, as the format was changed to have the four highest-ranked teams overall receive a first-round bye for the 2025 season.

The playoff bracket's first-round games were held on December 20 and 21 at respective campus sites; the higher ranked team was victorious in all four games. In the quarterfinals, played on December 31, January 1, and January 2 at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl, the top four seeds played the teams that won their first-round games. All four top seeds lost in the quarterfinals, with all the first round winners having won both of their first two CFP games to advance to the semifinals, held at the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl Classic, played on January 9 and 10, respectively. Like the quarterfinals, all higher seeds were defeated, with 7th seed Notre Dame and 8th seed Ohio State advancing to play in the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. In the championship game, Ohio State beat Notre Dame 34–23 to win their second CFP national championship and their ninth in school history.