Almost four months and endless weeks of debate later, the moment is almost here: The 2025-26 College Football Playoff gets underway this weekend, with four first-round games on campuses around the country. No matter how you feel about how we got to this field, what's inarguable is that we're in for some very fun football over the next few weeks en route to crowning national champion.
But let's say you're not a degenerate who's up watching Hawaii take on San Diego State at 12:30 a.m. For those of you just tuning in to the college football season, we've prepared a little first-round preview below, breaking down the keys and what's at stake in all four matchups.
CFP first-round matchups and schedule
No. 9 Alabama (10-3) at No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2)
Date: Friday, Dec. 19
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC/ESPN
Location: Memorial Stadium, Norman, Okla.
Spread: Oklahoma -1.5
Despite laying the egg to end all eggs in an embarrassing SEC title game loss to Georgia, Alabama managed to sneak into the Playoff field regardless. Their reward? A rematch with the Sooners, who upset the Tide in Tuscaloosa back in November and have ridden a ferocious defense to an unlikely CFP spot. Points should be at a premium in a game featuring two slumping quarterbacks in Ty Simpson and John Mateer.
No. 10 Miami (10-2) at No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 20
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC/ESPN
Location: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
Spread: Texas A&M -3.5
Between Miami's Carson Beck and A&M's Marcel Reed, we've got two of the most unpredictable quarterbacks in the country, capable of putting a team on their back or throwing the game away on any given play. The Canes are a controversial inclusion in the field based on their uninspiring results over the back half of the season, while the Aggies had a dream season waylaid by hated Texas for the second year in a row. The winner will have proven quite a bit about their program. The loser ... well, let's just say things might get uncomfortable.
No. 11 Tulane (11-2) at No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 20
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: TNT/HBO Max
Location: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss.
Spread: Ole Miss -17.5
Both of these teams have lost their head coaches since selection Sunday, but while Jon Sumrall is staying on for Tulane's Playoff run before heading to Florida, Ole Miss wouldn't let Lane Kiffin back across state lines after he took the LSU job. (Not that we blame them.) It remains to be seen how much of a difference in the rematch of a game the Rebels won by 35 points the first time around, but the Green Wave were still breaking in transfer QB Jake Retzlaff at the time, and they closed the year with an impressive win over a ranked North Texas team in the AAC title game.
No. 12 James Madison (12-1) at No. 5 Oregon (11-1)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 20
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: TNT/HBO Max
Location: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Ore.
Spread: Oregon -21
Cinderella No. 2 is James Madison, which sprinted through the Sun Belt and got a little help from the ACC en route to its first-ever CFP bid. Now they have to travel all the way across the country to face an Oregon team that should be extremely motivated to erase the memory of last year's Rose Bowl disaster against Ohio State. Under head coach Bob Chesney (soon to depart for UCLA), the Dukes boast a deep, dangerous running game and won't back down from a fight. But the Ducks have future pros all over the field, even if they flopped in their one true regular-season test against Indiana.
Key storyline for each matchup
Alabama at Oklahoma: Can Oklahoma win the turnover battle?
In the first matchup between these two teams, Alabama nearly doubled up the Sooners in total yardage and outgained them by more than a full yard per play. And yet, it was Oklahoma that got the last laugh on the scoreboard in 23-21 win, thanks in large part to three Tide turnovers — one of which was a pick-six.
This is something of a theme for Brent Venables' team. When their offense stays out of the way and takes advantage of the opportunities their all-world defense provides, they can hang with just about anybody; this D is that good. But Mateer threw three picks in a 23-6 loss to Texas earlier in the year, and threw three more in a near-upset to LSU in the final week of the season that nearly cost OU its Playoff spot. Neither of these offenses inspire a ton of confidence, and whichever one avoids mistakes best might be the winner.
Miami at Texas A&M: Which quarterback can keep his cool?
Both Beck and Reed are capable of the spectacular. They're also capable of the maddening: Beck threw a combined six picks across Miami's two losses this year, while Reed's accuracy can occasionally go haywire (and he himself threw a couple of crippling INTs in the rivalry game loss to Texas on Thanksgiving weekend).
Both of these defenses boast front sevens that excel at creating havoc at the line of scrimmage and making life miserable for opposing quarterbacks. In Miami's Malachi Toney and A&M's KC Concepcion and Mario Craver, we've got three of the most dangerous YAC threats in the entire country in this game. Can Beck and Reed take a deep breath, distribute the ball and avoid going haywire? Or will they let the pressure get to them and throw away their team's Playoff run?
Tulane at Ole Miss: How much has changed since last time?
It was ugly when these two teams met back in late September: Ole Miss outgained Tulane 548-282 in total yardage and 7.9 to 4.1 in yards per play. Rebels QB Trinidad Chambliss threw for more than 11 yards per attempt, while counterpart Jake Retzlaff went 5-for-17 for just 56 yards.
Then again, a lot has changed since then. Both head coaches have found new SEC jobs, for starters, and Kiffin's departure from Ole Miss was particularly acrimonious. And Tulane was still rotating quarterbacks, having just welcomed Retzlaff to campus a month or so ago. Is this Green Wave offense substantively different from the one we saw in Oxford? And what affect, if any, will the Kiffin hangover have on this Rebels team? If Ole Miss isn't careful, this could get hairy; it's always hard to beat a team twice, and we know Tulane can hang with P4 talent — they do have a win over eventual ACC champion Duke this season, after all.
JMU at Oregon: Can the Dukes hold up in the trenches?
From pretty much the moment he got to Oregon, head coach Dan Lanning has attempted to mold the Ducks in the image of his mentor Kirby Smart. Like Smart at Georgia, Lanning's teams are built from the lines of scrimmage out, and the 2025 edition is no exception: From guard Emmanuel Pregnon to tackle Isaiah World, edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei (yes, DJ's little brother) to DT A'Mauri Washington, there are future pros up front on both sides of the ball.
So the question is simple: Can James Madison hang? The Dukes have more than their fair share of naysayers around the country (and particularly in the South), those who think a G6 team has no business in the Playoff and would love to watch them fail. JMU and Oregon might as well be playing a different sport when it comes to the level of recruit they have access to, and it's entirely possible the Dukes get weight-roomed out of Autzen on Saturday night. Then again, this team looked physically up for it when they held Louisville to just 264 yards in a near-upset of the Cardinals in September, and Chesney will have them raring to go.
Upset potential and stakes
Don't count on David slaying Goliath
Set aside for a moment the question of whether Tulane and James Madison deserve a shot at the Playoff. (My own view? Of course they do; a sport cannot survive if each of its members doesn't have a viable path to a championship, and if you want to point fingers, blame the ACC for allowing a five-loss Duke team to claim its conference title.) Fairness has nothing to do with what's going to happen on the field on Saturday, and unfortunately, what's going to happen on the field might get ugly.
It wouldn't surprise me if Tulane kept things a bit closer than they did the last time they faced Ole Miss, but I don't see a ton of reason to believe that they can slow down the Rebels' relentless running game or keep Retzlaff clean on the other side of the ball. JMU, meanwhile, is at a profound physical deficit against Oregon. There are levels to this, and while that doesn't mean that David doesn't deserve his chance to sling a pebble, there's nothing that says it has to hit the mark.
One loss away from an offseason of anxiety
In the other two first-round games, meanwhile, the tension will be palpable. Alabama's been so spoiled by life under Nick Saban that getting bounced by Oklahoma — which would guarantee a second straight four-loss season to start Kalen DeBoer's tenure — might crank up the heat enough to have DeBoer consider taking the Michigan job. On the other sideline, Venables was talked about as a hot-seat candidate entering the year; if the Sooners go out with an offensive whimper, how convinced will fans really be that he's the guy to keep this program at or near the top of the SEC long term?
And somehow, that might not even be the sweatiest of the two anxiety bowls we've got on our hands. Miami entered the year with sky-high expectations, only to fall short of even making the ACC title game. If the Canes can't even win a single Playoff game, one year after missing out on the bracket entirely, what does that say about Mario Cristobal? A&M, meanwhile, got as high as No. 3 in the country amid an 11-0 start, but that loss to Texas has to have Aggies fans wondering whether all those "little brother" jokes are closer to the mark than they'd like. Win, and you can stick your chest out a little more when declaring yourself a true SEC power. Lose, and don't expect Texas, Georgia or Alabama to invite you to the big kids' table any time soon.