How do you miss the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket? By being the ninth-ranked team in the committee's final poll.
That's possible according to a change in protocol for the selection committee announced by the CFP on Thursday. As previously reported, the CFP confirmed that Notre Dame is now guaranteed a spot in the 12-team field if it ranks among the top 12 teams on Selection Sunday. The committee also made another change, one that would have kept Sun Belt champion James Madison out of last year's field.
Instead of reserving spots for the four highest-ranked conference champions plus the highest-rated Group of 5 champion, the CFP now explicitly reserves bids for the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC champions, as well as one for the highest-ranked G5 champ. The change comes after ACC champion Duke finished unranked, allowing the 24th-ranked Dukes to join 20th-ranked Tulane in the bracket.
Notre Dame also would've made the Playoff in the 2025 bracket under 2026 rules as the committee's 11th-ranked team -- at the expense of Miami, who beat the Irish to open the 2025 season and nearly won the national title.
2025 CFP Seeds, Following 2026 changes
1. Indiana*
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia*
4. Texas Tech*
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Alabama
10. Notre Dame*
11. Tulane*
12. Duke*
* - auto bid
The resulting changes mean FBS will play under its fourth different postseason structure in four years.
2023: 4-team bracket, no auto bids
2024: 12-team bracket, auto bids to top-6 conference champions, top-4 seeds reserved for conference champions
2025: 12-team bracket, auto bids to top-4 conference champions plus top Group of 5 champion
2026: 12-team bracket, auto bids to Power 4 champions, top Group of 5 champion, and Notre Dame if ranked among top 12
"It is always valuable to bring the committee together before the season begins to welcome our new members and review our procedures in detail," said Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek, returning as selection committee chairman. "The CFP Selection Committee has a strong foundation built on a proven process, and our members are looking forward to the work ahead as we evaluate teams throughout the season and produce the weekly rankings that help shape the College Football Playoff."
In a positive change, the committee has removed historic tie-ins that, for example, would've required SEC champion and top-seeded Georgia to play in the Sugar Bowl even if the nearby Peach Bowl also hosted a quarterfinal. The top three teams can now choose their own bowl sites for the quarterfinals. The Fiesta (Dec. 30), Cotton, Peach and Rose (Jan. 1) bowls will host quarterfinals this year. First-round games will be played at campus sites on Dec. 18-19, the semifinals will be at the Orange and Sugar bowls Jan. 14 and 15, and the national title game will take place in Las Vegas on Monday, Jan. 25.
Finally, back by unpopular demand, the Tuesday night selection shows return Nov. 3 and continue weekly until the bracket reveal on Sunday, Dec. 6.