College football playoff projection 2025: Alabama, Ohio State make the cut while Arch Manning & Texas stumble

The race for the college football playoff spots heated up during an eventful Week 8, where some teams' hopes came crashing down. The AP Top 25 Poll has changed throughout the season, but a few teams have come to the forefront in the past few weeks.

The biggest mover of the weekend was the No. 9 Miami Hurricanes losing 24-21 to the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals to potentially wipe away the ACC's first-round college football playoff bye.

The top five spots are currently occupied by teams from the Big Ten and the SEC, potentially locking in the byes for the college football playoffs at the expense of the other conferences.

The first round of the College Football Playoff

Below, we take a look at the projected first round of the college football playoff, with Arch Manning's Texas Longhorns missing out on a spot after a disappointing season that has already brought two losses.

The first four out of the reckoning for a spot in the 12-team tournament would be the Longhorns, Missouri Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Oklahoma Sooners.

The eight teams that will compete in the first round of the college football playoffs will be:

No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Georgia
No. 11 Vanderbilt at No. 6 Miami
No. 10 Mississippi at No. 7 BYU
No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Georgia Tech

The quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs

The four teams that will receive automatic byes for the college football playoffs will be the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide, the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies, the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers and the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes.

Cotton Bowl

The Cotton Bowl will be between the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide and the winner of the first-round clash between the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 12 South Florida Bulls.

Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl will be between the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies and the winner of the first-round clash between the No. 6 Miami Hurricanes and the No. 11 Vanderbilt Commodores.

Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl will be between the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers and the winner of the first-round clash between the No. 7 BYU Cougars and the No. 10 Ole Miss Rebels.

Rose Bowl

The Rose Bowl will be between the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes and the winner of the first-round clash between the No. 8 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Oregon Ducks.

About the author

Cabral Opiyo is a journalist who covers college sports at Sportskeeda. With work experience spanning over 10 years, Cabral is an avid follower of college football and basketball and what goes into making the perfect elite prospect. He brings the news as it happens and analyzes football games to a high degree of accuracy.

As a writer, he loves bringing to life historical and iconic moments with his writing, fueled by extensive and verifiable research, creating an image in the reader's eyes.

Cabral has been known to sneak away from a high-profile NBA game to catch an obscure college basketball game and is an avid re-watcher of Tim Duncan and San Antonio Spurs games from the 2000s.

UConn winning its first national title under Dan Hurley remains his best college sports moment. Cabral rates A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark as his favorite players due to their productivity and the Alabama Crimson Tide as his favorite college team.

In addition, Cabral follows football and is a huge Italian and Brazilian football fan. He has written about football for a decade and held a byline with Outside of the Boot Football.

Know More

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Edited by Cabral Opiyo