The second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff is already garnering anticipation for college football betting enthusiasts even before the 2025 season starts.
Which teams will back up their recruiting rankings and preseason hype? And will anybody make a Cinderella run the way Indiana and Arizona State did last year in the inaugural 12-team Playoff? At RotoWire.com, we think it is never too early to speculate. So here we go with our first projection of the CFP field for the 2025 season.
Projected College Football Playoff Field For 2025
Seed, Team | Conference | 2024 (overall, conference) |
1. Texas | SEC | 13-3 (7-1) |
2. Ohio State | Big Ten | 14-2 (7-2) |
3. Georgia | SEC | 11-3 (6-2) |
4. Clemson | ACC | 10-4 (7-1) |
5. Penn State | Big Ten | 13-3 (8-1) |
6. Notre Dame | Independent | 14-2 |
7. Kansas State | Big 12 | 9-4 (5-4) |
8. LSU | SEC | 9-4 (5-3) |
9. Oregon | Big Ten | 13-1 (9-0) |
10. Alabama | SEC | 9-4 (5-3) |
11. Arizona State | Big 12 | 11-3 (7-2) |
12. Boise State | Mountain West | 12-2 (7-0) |
Of immediate note for customers at sports betting sites contemplating wagers on college football: The seeding format has changed from last year's inaugural run at a 12-team field.
For the 2025 College Football Playoff, the teams will be seeded in order of their final CFP ranking, with no first-round byes guaranteed for conference champions. The five highest-ranked conference champions – including one from the Group of Five leagues – will be guaranteed a spot in the 12-team field. Last year, the top four seeds (and first-round byes) were awarded to the four highest-ranked conference champions, which led to ninth-ranked Boise State receiving the No. 3 seed and Big 12 champion Arizona State, which was 12th in the final CFP rankings, getting the No. 4 seed.
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Top CFP 2025 Contenders
The Arch Manning hype train is in full overdrive as the third-generation quarterback takes over as the starter for the Texas Longhorns. Coach Steve Sarkisian's team was the SEC regular-season champion last year and reached the CFP semifinals as the No. 5 seed before losing to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
We project the Longhorns as the SEC champion and the No. 1 seed for the 2025 Playoff. Sportsbook apps have installed Texas as one of the favorites to make the CFP field, with odds ranging from -300 to -400.
The Ohio State Buckeyes enter as the defending champions but also as a team with a lot of question marks. They'll have a new starting quarterback no matter who wins the position battle going into the season, the running back room is quite different from 2024, and last year's senior-laden defense has been remade. Still, coach Ryan Day has a national title to keep the detractors quiet (unless the Buckeyes lose to Michigan again) and college football odds weigh heavily in OSU's favor to win the Big Ten and make the CFP again.
Last season's CFP runnerup, Notre Dame, looks like a good bet to make the field again, along with traditional powers Georgia, Penn State, Clemson, LSU and Alabama.
Outsiders Who Could Crash The CFP
Last season, Arizona State stunned the college football world by winning the Big 12 in its first season in the league, quite a turnaround from a 3-9 season in 2023 in the program's Pac-12 swansong.
Which teams might be poised to make their way into the field this season and pay off handsomely for futures betting at college football betting sites?
The ACC got two teams into the inaugural 12-team Playoff and the Big 12 got just one. The guess here is that these leagues will flip places in 2025, with the Big 12 receiving two bids and the ACC just one (the Big Ten and SEC will continue to dominate). This could change if Notre Dame stumbles, opening another bid for a power conference team.
Kansas State is a chic pick to win the Big 12 this season at several outlets and we're going with the Wildcats as well, but we think the Sun Devils repeat as a CFP participant.
Illinois is not on our list but it's a team to watch for CFB futures wagering. Coming off of a 10-win season, coach Bret Bielema returns QB Luke Altmyer and a lot of returning starters. Their odds to make the CFP range from +500 to +550, an enticing price considering how likely it is that the Big Ten will get at least three and perhaps four CFP bids. Ohio State didn't even make the league championship game last year but parlayed an at-large bid into a national championship. We're not saying Illinois is poised for a similar leap, just that finishing third or even fourth in the league might be good enough to make the CFP field.
The SEC is stacked as always but could South Carolina make a CFP bid behind young QB LaNorris Sellers? A lot could depend on the Gamecocks' traditional finale against in-state non-conference rival Clemson. And is Boise State still the best Group of Five candidate without All-American running back Ashton Jeanty?
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