What Is PFSN’s College Football Playoff Predictor?
PFSN’s College Football Playoff Predictor is a tool that allows you to play out various weekly scenarios to see how the CFP picture changes with each scenario. The combination of actual game results from the college football season, along with user-selected game picks, up-to-date CFB power rankings, AI-simulated results, and our college football strength of schedule metric, provides you with a unique CFP bracket.
PFSN’s Playoff Machine is updated within minutes of the conclusion of each college football game to allow you to test out an unlimited number of playoff scenarios in real time to see how your favorite team is impacted in the CFB playoff picture.
How Does PFSN’s College Football Playoff Machine Work?
The PFSN College Football Playoff Machine is updated in near-real time at the conclusion of every college football game. From there, you can opt to pick every remaining game yourself or only select the games that are of interest to you. Once you make your picks, you can choose to simulate that week only or the rest of the season. PFSN’s College Football Playoff Predictor includes a proprietary, state-of-the-art algorithm that will simulate and predict the outcomes of the games you have not already selected.
From there, you can see the projected playoff field and manipulate any of the game results to see how they affect the CFB playoff picture. Once your CFB playoff bracket is set, you can select the winners of each playoff matchup from the first round through the National Championship.
FAQ
How Many Teams Make the College Football Playoffs?
A total of 12 teams make it into the playoffs. The 12-team field consists of the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked programs. There is no limit on the number of participants from a single conference, and the top four teams will receive a first-round bye to the quarterfinals.
In a change for the 2025-26 season, the top four teams can be made up of any combination, even if a team does not win their conference championship game. In the first year of the 12-team playoff, the four teams who advanced straight to the quarter finals had to be conference champions, meaning teams like Texas and Penn State, who lost in the SEC and Big Ten Conference Championships, had to play first-round games. With the new rules, both would potentially have got a bye through tot he quarter finals.
How Do the College Football Playoffs Work?
The college football regular season is a 14-week endeavor. Most FBS teams play 12 regular-season games, eight or nine of which are against conference opponents. The remaining contests are non-conference matchups scheduled by the colleges, sometimes years in advance. At the conclusion of the conference championships (Week 15, Dec. 1-7), the selection committee sets the playoff field.
The committee releases its first of six rankings on Nov. 4 and then one each following Tuesday, with the final ranking publishing on Dec. 7.
Once the final ranking is announced, the five highest-ranked conference champions will immediately lock in their place among the 12 teams. The four highest-ranked teams earn first-round byes.
In the first round, the higher seeds will host the lower seeds (No. 5 vs. No. 12, No. 6 vs. No. 11, No. 7 vs. No. 10, No. 8 vs. No. 9) either on campus or "at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution."
The winners advance to the Quarterfinals to challenge the No. 1-4 seeds: No. 4 plays the winner of No. 5 vs. No. 12, No. 1 plays the winner of No. 8 vs. No. 9, No. 3 plays the winner of No. 6 vs. No. 11, and No. 2 plays the winner of No. 7 vs. No. 10. These games will be played on or around New Year's Day with the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl Classic hosting the games.
The winners of the Semifinal games (the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl) will face off in the CFP National Championship.
Who Is on the College Football Playoff Committee?
The College Football Playoff Committee consists of 13 members who serve three-year terms: six former coaches and players, six sitting athletic directors representing seven conferences (including one from each Power 4 league), and one former sportswriter.
The current College Football Playoff Committee includes:
- Chris Ault (Former Nevada coach)
- Troy Dannen (Nebraska AD)
- Mark Dantonio (Former Cincinnati & Michigan State Coach)
- Jeff Long (Former college athletics coach & administrator, and former CFP Selection Committee chairman)
- Ivan Maisel (Sportwriter)
- Chris Massaro (Middle Tennessee State AD)
- Randall McDaniel (Former Arizona State All-American guard)
- Mark Rhoades (Baylor VP & AD)
- Mike Riley (Former Oregon State & Nebraska coach)
- David Sayler (Miami (OH) AD)
- Wesley Walls (Former Mississippi All-American Tight End)
- Carla Williams (Virginia AD)
- Hunter Yurachek (Arkansas AD)