After being on the outside looking in last year, Alabama and Miami can breathe a sigh of relief as the Crimson Tide and Hurricanes were the last at-large teams selected — ahead of Notre Dame — for the 12-team College Football Playoff field announced Sunday.

Undefeated Big Ten champion Indiana (13-0) earned the No. 1 seed, while two Group of 5 teams — American Conference champ Tulane (11-2) and Sun Belt victor James Madison (12-1) — were selected to the CFP field.

In addition to the Hoosiers, No. 2 seed Ohio State (12-1), No. 3 Georgia (12-1) and No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1) were awarded first-round byes, guaranteed to the four highest teams in the rankings.

THE 12-TEAM CFP BRACKET IS SET‼️

Did your team make the cut? 🤔@CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/tkdTkChBrg

— ESPN (@espn) December 7, 2025

The Fighting Irish (10-2) were the first team out as the committee took Alabama (10-3) and Miami (10-2) instead.

The Crimson Tide, which stayed at No. 9 after their 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game, will visit No. 8 seed Oklahoma (10-2) in the first round.

Miami, which didn’t play Saturday after failing to advance to the ACC championship game, will visit No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1).

With Duke‘s win over Virginia (10-3), James Madison finished ahead of the Blue Devils (8-5) in the final CFP rankings — the committee takes the five highest-ranked conference champions — to get the No. 12 seed. The Dukes, who officially moved from the FCS to the FBS in 2022, will visit No. 5 seed Oregon (11-1) in the first round.

Tulane is the No. 11 seed and will face No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1) in a matchup of programs affected by coaching carousel chaos. The Rebels enter the playoff with a new head coach (Pete Golding) following Lane Kiffin’s exit to LSU, while the Green Wave will continue to be coached by Jon Sumrall, who will depart for Florida following the playoff.

The first-round games will be played Dec. 19 and Dec. 20 at campus sites of the higher-seeded teams. The quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1; ESPN) and semifinals (Jan. 8-9; ESPN) follow at the traditional New Year’s Six bowl games, and a national champion will be crowned on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Bowl season kicks off Dec. 13 at noon with the Cricket Celebration Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In all, 36 bowl games are scheduled, in addition to the 11 games of the CFP, and 42 of those games will air on the ESPN/ABC family of networks.

Indiana is the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the first time after going through the regular season and Big Ten championship game 13-0, ending Ohio State‘s 14-week run atop the rankings.

The Hoosiers’ 13-10 win over the Buckeyes in Indianapolis on Saturday night made them the unanimous pick for No. 1 as they looked ahead to top seeding for their second straight appearance in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Georgia, which beat Alabama 28-7 in the Southeastern Conference title game, moved up one spot to No. 2 for its highest ranking of the season. Ohio State, the defending national champion, slipped two spots to No. 3.

Indiana, which had the most losses in major college football history prior to Curt Cignetti’s arrival two years ago, had never been ranked higher than No. 2 before Sunday. That was the position the Hoosiers held for seven straight weeks before they rose to the top. They were 100 ballot points ahead of Georgia. The Bulldogs were just 12 points ahead of Ohio State.

Texas Tech, a 27-point winner over BYU in the Big 12 championship game, also has its highest ranking of the season after rising one rung to No. 4.

Oregon was No. 5 and followed by Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Miami.

Miami moved up two spots and returned to the top 10 for the first time since mid-October. Alabama and BYU each dropped one spot, to Nos. 11 and 12.

Among Group of 5 teams, American Conference champion Tulane jumped four spots to No. 17 for its highest ranking in two years. Sun Belt Conference champion James Madison remained No. 19.

With the limited schedule of games, all teams that were in the Top 25 last week remained in the poll.

Virginia took the biggest fall after losing in overtime to Duke in the ACC championship game, going from No. 16 to No. 20.

The final AP Top 25 will be released Jan. 20, the day after the national championship game.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC (8 ranked teams): 2, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 25.

Big Ten (5): 1, 3, 5, 16, 18.

Big 12 (4): 4, 12, 15, 20.

ACC (3): 10, 21, 24.

American (3): 17, 22, 23.

Independent (1): 9.

Sun Belt (1): 19.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke defensive end Wesley Williams said he heard the refrain throughout the run-up to Saturday’s ACC championship game: A Blue Devils win would be “a doomsday scenario.”

At 7-5 and unranked, Duke arrived in Charlotte with a chance to win the conference and, in doing so, knock the ACC out of the College Football Playoff entirely, with two teams from the Group of 5 — Tulane and James Madison — potentially making it instead.

Well, doomsday has arrived, thanks to a series of fourth-down calls by Duke coach Manny Diaz, including one in overtime that resulted in the game-deciding touchdown in a 27-20 Blue Devils victory over No. 17 Virginia.

“Coach Diaz said this week, ‘If you think people hate Duke now, just wait until we win the ACC,'” Williams said.

The ACC’s fifth tiebreaker — combined win percentage of conference opponents — sent Duke to the league’s title game from among five teams tied for second place in the standings, including No. 12 Miami, a team on the fringe of an at-large CFP bid that could have benefited significantly from an extra game to wow the selection committee.

Instead, it was Duke that got the chance to avenge a Nov. 15 loss to Virginia and make its own case for playoff inclusion.

“I’m not going to take anything away from James Madison,” Diaz said. “They had a really great season. … The Sun Belt has been a really good conference in years past, but most of their top teams are having a down year. So when you start comparing strength of schedule — you can’t just look at wins and losses. It’s who you play against. That’s the whole point of playing a Power 4 schedule. There’s a reason all these coaches are all leaving for Power 4 jobs. There’s recognition that’s where the best competition is.

“The ACC champion should go to the College Football Playoff this year and every year. And we’ll be very excited to see how they rule on that tomorrow.”

James Madison coach Bob Chesney has accepted the head coaching position at UCLA, but he is expected to stay with the Dukes through any potential playoff run.

The Dukes finished the season 12-1 but lost their lone game against a Power 4 foe, Louisville, in September. James Madison beat Troy 31-14 on Friday to win the Sun Belt championship.

James Madison athletic director Matt Roan offered a counterpoint, noting that Dukes quarterback Alonza Barnett III was just coming back after a long-term injury and the Dukes still played Louisville close before losing 28-14.

“The next week, we started what is now the second-longest winning streak in the country,” Roan said. “This team is clicking since that time and separated itself as one of the five best conference champions in the country after winning the Sun Belt. JMU led the nation in wins over bowl-eligible teams with seven, matching Indiana and Ohio State. We can score points and stop points with anyone in the country. Our second halves, and fourth quarter in particular, have been untouchable. Who you play matters, but more important is how you play. Our players and our coaches have been elite all season and are deserving of this opportunity.”

James Madison was No. 25 in the most recent CFP rankings. Duke was unranked.

Diaz said after Saturday’s win, however, that the committee now has a more complete body of work to consider.

According to ESPN’s metrics, James Madison has the No. 18 strength of record but the No. 123 strength of schedule. Duke entered Saturday’s game with the No. 59 strength of record and No. 74 strength of schedule. Two of the Blue Devils’ losses were to teams outside the Power 4: playoff hopeful Tulane and 9-3 UConn.

“Having been on the selection committee, I understand it’s complicated,” Duke athletic director Nina King said. “I think we’re deserving when you look at some of these numbers like strength of schedule, number of Power 4 teams we’ve played and won. I think we’re deserving, but I fully appreciate the challenge [for the committee].”

The ACC’s doomsday scenario was in some ways more of a “Mission: Impossible.” After Duke lost to Virginia in Week 11, the Blue Devils were +1800 to win the conference and, according to ESPN’s FPI, had a 3.8% chance of winning the ACC.

Now, the conference will wait for the committee to deliver a verdict on both Duke and Miami on Sunday. The Hurricanes are 10-2 but have consistently been ranked behind several other two-loss teams, including Notre Dame, a team they beat in Week 1.

“Miami should get in,” Diaz said after Saturday’s win. “The head-to-head should matter. And so should we, because we’re the conference champion.”

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips argued the same before Saturday’s kickoff, but he declined to comment after Duke’s win over Virginia that might have left the conference with no playoff bids.

The doomsday scenario for the ACC, however, could just as easily turn into a boon with two teams in, should the committee buy into Duke’s sales pitch. Blue Devils linebacker Luke Mergott, who hauled in the championship-clinching interception in overtime, believes it will.

“We represent the ACC, and the ACC is a respected conference,” Mergott said. “I think we’ll be in, and I’m confident our name will be called.”