Previewing the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff

The GIST: Tick tock — you have until 12 p.m. ET today to enter The GIST’s College Football Bracket Challenge, plenty of time to read this primer then make your picks.

• The top four College Football Playoff (CFP) seeds (No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 Texas Tech) received a bye to the quarter-finals, while the other eight squads will battle it out in first-round action beginning tonight. Hut hut, here we go.

🟥 No. 8 Oklahoma vs. 🔴 No. 9 Alabama — Tonight at 8 p.m. ET: Oklahoma pulled off a massive 23–21 upset when these SEC foes met in the regular season, a stunner that sent CFP mainstay Bama into a tailspin. Can the Crimson Tide recover, or will the Sooners’ strong defense be too tough to top?

🫡 No. 7 Texas A&M vs. 🌴 No. 10 Miami — Tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET: These teams share a common strength: a successful quarterback (QB) to wide receiver (WR) connection. Aggies QB Marcel Reed tosses nearly a third of his passes to WR KC Concepcion, while Miami QB Carson Beck loves to connect with wideout Malachi Toney. May the best slinger win.

💙 No. 6 Ole Miss vs. 💚 No. 11 Tulane — Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET: Ole Miss is ready to put their coaching drama behind them in their first-ever CFP appearance, and enter as the heavy favorites over Tulane, whom they routed back in September. The Rebels’ key to victory? QB Trinidad Chambliss, who leads the SEC’s best passing attack.

🦆 No. 5 Oregon vs. 😈 No. 12 James Madison — Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET: Both teams have just one loss, but let’s be clear: This is perhaps the most lopsided game of the bunch. Oregon will rely on superstar tight end Kenyon Sadiq, while JMU QB Alonza Barnett III will need the game of his life to pull off one of the biggest upsets in CFP history.