CFP Selection Show 2025: Date, Time, What Gets Announced, and How the 12-Team Bracket Will Be Built

The CFP Selection Show arrives this Sunday, December 7, 2025, with a three-hour broadcast window from 12:00–3:00 p.m. ET. By the end of the program, fans will have the full 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, complete with seeding, first-round host sites, quarterfinal bowl placements, and the final Top 25.

What the CFP Selection Show actually decides

• The 12 teams: The field consists of the five highest-ranked conference champions plus seven at-large selections.

• Top-four byes: The four highest-ranked teams (regardless of league) receive first-round byes straight to the quarterfinals.

• Campus-site games: Teams seeded 5–8 host teams seeded 9–12 in the First Round.

• New Year’s Six mapping: Quarterfinal and semifinal assignments rotate through the major bowls, with exact kick times already set for this cycle.

Key dates after the CFP Selection Show

First Round (campus sites)

• Friday, Dec. 19 — prime-time kickoff

• Saturday, Dec. 20 — tripleheader (12:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. ET)

Quarterfinals (New Year’s Six)

• Wednesday, Dec. 31 — Cotton Bowl (7:30 p.m. ET)

• Thursday, Jan. 1 — Orange Bowl (12:00 p.m. ET) · Rose Bowl (4:00 p.m. ET) · Sugar Bowl (8:00 p.m. ET)

Semifinals

• Thursday, Jan. 8 — Fiesta Bowl (7:30 p.m. ET)

• Friday, Jan. 9 — Peach Bowl (7:30 p.m. ET)

CFP National Championship

• Monday, Jan. 19 — 7:30 p.m. ET

(Schedules are set; pairings populate on Selection Sunday.)

CFP selection show storylines to watch

1) Seeding vs. geography
With byes on the line, the order of the top four is everything. After that, the committee tries to balance competitive integrity with travel realities when placing teams into quarterfinal bowls. Expect lively debate if a No. 5 or No. 6 seed feels misaligned with a cross-country path.

2) The champion cutoff
In the 12-team era, a lower-ranked league winner can still auto-qualify, pushing a higher-ranked at-large down the board. If a surprise champion grabbed a bid on Championship Saturday, bubble teams will sweat the final two or three at-large slots.

3) Host sites and cold-weather edges
Seeds 5–8 get the right to host. December conditions at campus sites matter—outdoor venues, wind, and surface familiarity can swing a close matchup. A dome team shipping north (or into altitude) is a classic First-Round subplot.

4) Injury and late-season form
The committee can consider player availability and trajectory. A contender that lost a star quarterback in November might slide a line or two; conversely, a team finishing on a heater can jump into a more favorable seed.

How the committee gets there

Voters weigh: strength of schedule, head-to-head, results vs. ranked teams, results vs. common opponents, and conference titles. In practice, Selection Day works in two passes—first to identify the 12 entrants, then to finalize seeding and sites. Small ordering choices (No. 4 vs. No. 5; No. 8 vs. No. 9) ripple into byes, home fields, and travel.

Bracket mechanics at a glance

• Seeds 1–4: Bye to quarterfinals

• Seeds 5–8 vs. 9–12: First Round at the higher seed’s campus

• Quarterfinals: Cotton, Orange, Rose, Sugar (earlier New Year’s kick times this cycle)

• Semifinals: Fiesta, Peach

• Championship: Neutral site on Jan. 19

Viewing tips for Selection Sunday

• Block the full window (12–3 p.m. ET): The Top 25 lands early, but pairings and bowls typically phase in across the show.

• Note the clock, not the channel: Distribution varies; times above won’t change.

• Keep a pad handy: As First-Round hosts are named, start mapping potential travel—some campus allotments move quickly.

The CFP Selection Show sets the entire postseason chessboard: who’s in, who rests, who hosts, and who draws which New Year’s bowl. With byes, home games, and travel paths at stake, Sunday’s order won’t just crown résumés—it will shape how winnable each contender’s road really is.