After much anticipation and speculation, the 2025 men’s college football schedule is finally complete. With conference realignment, new television deals, and ongoing playoff expansion talks, the 2025 season promises to bring significant changes to the landscape of college football. From revamped conference lineups to marquee matchups and adjustments to the postseason structure, here’s a comprehensive breakdown of the key changes in the 2025 schedule.
One of the most anticipated changes to the 2025 schedule comes from the massive shifts in conference affiliations. Several schools are moving to new conferences, reshaping traditional rivalries and opening the door to new, exciting matchups. This is largely due to the ongoing realignment trend that has seen teams jockey for better financial deals and exposure.
The SEC, which continues to grow in strength, will officially welcome Texas and Oklahoma, two powerhouses from the Big 12. Their addition not only expands the conference’s geographical footprint but also creates more opportunities for thrilling games, such as Texas vs. Alabama and Oklahoma vs. Georgia. The influx of talent into the SEC means that fans will be treated to an even more competitive regular season.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten has completed its expansion by adding USC and UCLA, marking a significant shift for these traditionally West Coast programs. The new Big Ten footprint now stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic, creating coast-to-coast rivalries like Ohio State vs. USC and Michigan vs. UCLA. The move is expected to elevate the Big Ten’s national profile even further.
The Big 12, after losing Texas and Oklahoma, has added new members such as BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston, bringing fresh energy and competition to the conference. These new additions will help maintain the conference’s relevance and competitiveness in the years to come.
With these realignments come a slew of high-profile games that fans have been eagerly awaiting. The 2025 season will feature a number of must-watch contests between some of the sport’s biggest programs.
In the SEC, Texas will face Alabama in one of the most anticipated regular-season games, while Oklahoma will clash with Georgia in a showdown between two recent national champions. These games, along with traditional SEC rivalries like the Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn) and the Egg Bowl (Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss), will make the SEC schedule as tough as ever.
In the Big Ten, the addition of USC and UCLA brings exciting matchups against teams like Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. The USC-Ohio State game, in particular, has the potential to become one of the defining rivalries of the new-look Big Ten, featuring two programs with rich histories and national title aspirations.
Outside of the conferences, the 2025 season also brings a few notable non-conference games. One of the biggest will be Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M, a clash of two blue-blood programs with passionate fan bases. Another exciting matchup will see Clemson take on Georgia, in what could be a preview of a College Football Playoff showdown.
Perhaps the most significant change to the 2025 schedule is the expanded College Football Playoff (CFP) format. After years of debate and discussion, the playoff will officially expand from four teams to 12, creating more opportunities for programs to compete for a national championship.
The new format will feature the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large bids, ensuring that teams from all across the country have a chance to participate. The top four seeds will receive first-round byes, while the remaining eight teams will face off in on-campus playoff games. This expanded format not only adds more excitement to the postseason but also gives more programs a shot at the ultimate prize, while keeping regular-season games meaningful.
With the expansion, the importance of winning a conference championship has never been higher, and it’s expected that the race for playoff spots will be even more intense throughout the 2025 season.
As part of the expanded playoff system, several traditional bowl games will take on new roles. Some of the more prestigious bowl games, like the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Orange Bowl, will rotate as hosts for quarterfinal and semifinal playoff games. This shift elevates these bowls’ importance in the playoff race, while also ensuring that they remain relevant in the ever-changing postseason landscape.
Other bowl games will continue to feature high-level matchups, offering teams that fall short of the playoff a chance to cap their seasons on a high note. However, with more emphasis on the playoff, there may be fewer top teams available for non-playoff bowls, potentially impacting the overall bowl experience for some fanbases.
With the completion of the 2025 schedule, college football is entering a new era of expansion, realignment, and heightened competition. The addition of powerhouse programs to already strong conferences, the expanded playoff, and the introduction of marquee matchups will make the 2025 season one for the ages. As fans look forward to these exciting changes, it’s clear that the landscape of college football will never be the same.