College Football Playoff Bracket Week 12 Live Projections: SEC Up to Five Bids

No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Oregon and other notable matchups that could impact the College Football Playoff. Throughout Saturday’s slate, Sports Illustrated will give an updated look at the playoff seeding and matchups. Here’s everything you need to know about the current CFP race:

Update at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday:

Chalk in college football is mostly a foreign concept. Results simply don’t happen according to plan, and Week 12 was a fantastic example of that after Oklahoma went into Tuscaloosa, Ala., and emerged, somehow, with a win over No. 4 Alabama to throw the bracket into quite a bit of chaos.

The Tide are not out of the bracket by any means—that win over Georgia still carries plenty of weight—but go from safely getting a quarterfinal berth to having to play on the road after picking up their second loss. It was actually a great result for the SEC, too, as the conference looks primed to get five teams into the field (and could have an outside shot at six) ahead of a critical game between Georgia and Texas in Athens, Ga., on Saturday night.

Update at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday:

For a good hour or two during the noon ET slate, it looked like the College Football Playoff bracket was going to undergo some wild changes. 

Wisconsin looked competitive against Indiana. South Carolina was racing out to a 30–3 lead at halftime at Texas A&M. Navy and South Florida were exchanging blows. Notre Dame was refusing to pull away from Pitt. 

Then order was restored late.

As a result, there were not some earth-shattering changes to the CFP field outside of the Bulls taking a loss to change over the committee’s pick for the Group of 5 bid for a second week in a row. Thanks to that result, the American race looks even more compelling and might turn the baton over to Tulane based on their Power 4 wins looking more impressive over Northwestern and Duke.

Update at 12:45 a.m. ET Saturday:

It wasn’t quite the College Football Playoff chaos we’ve seen on Friday night the past few weeks, but the real start of the college football weekend cleared a few things up. Primarily, the ACC remains impossible to predict after Clemson went into Louisville to pull the upset. That result is great news for Duke, Virginia, Georgia Tech and others aiming to make it to Charlotte for the conference title game and threw a number of obstacles for Miami, which could be forced into a scenario where it is at-large or bust.

There are a ton of other games across the country with significant CFP implications on Saturday, so it should be quite the Week 12 in the sport after Listen to Cheap Rs-flyfishing Jordan Outlet’s new college sports podcast before games even kicked off.

Live Week 12 College Football Playoff Bracket

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia 
5. Texas Tech
6. Mississippi
7. Oregon 
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Alabama
11. Virginia
12. Tulane

First Round

• No. 2 Indiana vs. winner of below or on
• a pretty notable shake-up within the committee
• below or on
• No. 4 Georgia vs. winner of No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech

Quarterfinals

• Orange Bowl: No. 4 Georgia vs. winner of No. 2 Indiana vs. winner of below or on
• Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. winner of a pretty notable shake-up within the committee
• Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Indiana vs. winner of below or on
• Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 4 Georgia vs. winner of No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech

No. 2 Indiana vs. winner of below or on

The Red Raiders took care of business against UCF with ease Saturday and then got another series of results they needed in order to have a shot at securing a first-round bye and a trip to the Cotton Bowl by having Oklahoma upset Alabama. Much as it might pain the folks in Lubbock, the difference in getting a home game and getting a bye could be old rival Texas A&M winning out. 

a pretty notable shake-up within the committee 

Miami is currently the highest-ranked ACC team in the eyes of the committee, but it’s increasingly looking like the league is Virginia’s to lose after it handled Duke on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Rebels continue to keep sliding up in the rankings without doing much of anything in the back half of the season and can pretty much punch their ticket to the playoff by beating Florida at home on Saturday night.

below or on

Alabama has been rolling this season when it has taken care of the ball, limited turnovers and simply leaned on teams using its talent advantage. That wasn’t the case against Oklahoma, however, as it limited a team to just 212 yards but somehow found a way to lose and put its CFP hopes on thin ice for the second straight season.

No. 4 Georgia vs. winner of No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech

Brent Venables entered the season on the hot seat and may well end 2025 by having a home playoff game. That was a vintage defensive stop late for the Sooners to close out a win over Alabama and allow them to leapfrog rival Texas to go from the first team out of the field to hosting a first-round game against the bluest of bluebloods.

Orange Bowl: No. 4 Georgia

Kirby Smart’s team can’t clinch an SEC title game berth by beating Texas but it could lock in a top-four seed to the CFP even if it doesn’t make it to Atlanta for the conference title game.

Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Texas A&M

We keep waiting for the Aggies to fall on their face—and did it look like they were going to do just that in the first half against South Carolina. Instead, they proved this isn’t your same old A&M team under Mike Elko as they mounted the biggest comeback in school history to remain alive for the SEC title game and CFP quarterfinal berth. 

Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Indiana

Curt Cignetti has led the Hoosiers to their first ever 11–0 start and may well be the first team to officially clinch a playoff bid in the process as they only have rival Purdue left on the docket before making it to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game. Just an incredible, incredible run. 

Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State

The only thing left between now and the Saturday after Thanksgiving is for Ohio State to decide which candidate(s) it really wants to support for the Heisman Trophy. 

More College Football on Sports Illustrated

Listen to Cheap Rs-flyfishing Jordan Outlet’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Oregon Cheap Rs-flyfishing Jordan Outlet’s YouTube channel.