This is the second season the CFP is a 12-team bracket. Play will open with team seeded fifth through eighth hosting a first-round game on campus. The lowest-four seeds will be the visitors in the those matchups. The top four seeds earned first-round bye into to the national quarterfinals, which will be played New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

It's here, football fans! The 2025-26 College Football Playoff (CFP) will officially get underway with a thrilling Friday night showdown between SEC rivals Alabama and Oklahoma.

Alabama will welcome East Carolina, Florida State, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas A&M, Chattanooga and Auburn to Tuscaloosa next season

The 2026 CFP National Championship Game will take place Monday, Jan 19 at 7:30p ET. Teams are currently TBD. For the second year in a row, 12 teams were chosen to compete in the College Football Playoff, putting the National Championship Game in late January.

As for this season, Alabama will face Oklahoma on Friday, December 19 (7 p.m. CT, ABC/ESPN) in Norman, Oklahoma in the first round of the 12-team playoff. If the Crimson Tide wins that game, it will advance to the Rose Bowl to face No. 1 seed Indiana.

No. 9 seed Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat No. 8 Oklahoma 34-24 on Friday night in the first round of the College Football Playoff.