All college football bowl matchups for 2025-26 were revealed on Sunday. Sam Wasson / Getty Images
By The Athletic Staff
Dec. 7, 2025Updated Dec. 8, 2025 12:40 am EST
The selection of the College Football Playoff field dominates the first Sunday in December, but far more than the 12 CFP teams are finding out their postseason fates. It’s bowl season, too, and 70 teams that don’t make the bracket still have one more game to play.
Iowa State, Kansas State and Notre Dame all announced Sunday that they were opting out of playing in bowl games. That means three 5-7 teams will take their place since there aren’t enough programs that finished .500 or better to take those slots. One of them ended up being Mississippi State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The Bulldogs were joined by Rice and finally, after a prolonged wait for Georgia Southern to find out its Birmingham Bowl opponent, Appalachian State.
So who’s playing where? Below is the complete schedule for the 2025-26 bowl season, including the College Football Playoff.
BowlMatchup
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
7 Texas A&M
10 Miami
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
6 Ole Miss
11 Tulane
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
5 Oregon
12 James Madison
Playoff
Dec. 19, 2025
8 Oklahoma
9 Alabama
Cotton
Dec. 31, 2025
2 Ohio State
A&M/Miami winner
Orange
Jan. 1, 2026
4 Texas Tech
Oregon/JMU winner
Rose
Jan. 1, 2026
1 Indiana
Bama/OU winner
Sugar
Jan. 1, 2026
3 Georgia
Miss/Tulane winner
Fiesta
Jan. 8, 2026
QF winner
QF winner
Peach
Jan. 9, 2026
QF winner
QF winner
Championship
Jan. 19, 2026
SF winner
SF winner
BowlMatchup
LA
Dec. 13, 2025
Washington
Boise State
Salute to Veterans
Dec. 16, 2025
Troy
Jacksonville State
Cure
Dec. 17, 2025
Old Dominion
South Florida
68 Ventures
Dec. 17, 2025
Louisiana
Delaware
XBox
Dec. 18, 2025
Missouri State
Arkansas State
Myrtle Beach
Dec. 19, 2025
Kennesaw State
Western Michigan
Gasparilla
Dec. 19, 2025
NC State
Memphis
Famous Idaho Potato
Dec. 22, 2025
Utah State
Washington State
Boca Raton
Dec. 23, 2025
Louisville
Toledo
New Orleans
Dec. 23, 2025
Southern Miss
Western Kentucky
Frisco
Dec. 23, 2025
Ohio
UNLV
Hawai’i
Dec. 24, 2025
Hawaii
California
GameAbove Sports
Dec. 26, 2025
Northwestern
Central Michigan
Rate
Dec. 26, 2025
Minnesota
New Mexico
First Responder
Dec. 26, 2025
Florida International
UTSA
Military
Dec. 27, 2025
East Carolina
Pittsburgh
Pinstripe
Dec. 27, 2025
Penn State
Clemson
Fenway
Dec. 27, 2025
UConn
Army
Arizona
Dec. 27, 2025
Fresno State
Miami (OH)
Pop-Tarts
Dec. 27, 2025
BYU
Georgia Tech
New Mexico
Dec. 27, 2025
San Diego State
North Texas
Gator
Dec. 27, 2025
Virginia
Missouri
Texas
Dec. 27, 2025
Houston
LSU
Birmingham
Dec. 29, 2025
Appalachian State
Georgia Southern
Independence
Dec. 30, 2025
Coastal Carolina
Louisiana Tech
Music City
Dec. 30, 2025
Illinois
Tennessee
Alamo
Dec. 30, 2025
TCU
USC
ReliaQuest
Dec. 31, 2025
Iowa
Vanderbilt
Sun
Dec. 31, 2025
Duke
Arizona State
Citrus
Dec. 31, 2025
Michigan
Texas
Las Vegas
Dec. 31, 2025
Utah
Nebraska
Armed Forces
Jan. 2, 2026
Rice
Texas State
Liberty
Jan. 2, 2026
Cincinnati
Navy
Duke’s Mayo
Jan. 2, 2026
Mississippi State
Wake Forest
Holiday
Jan. 3, 2026
SMU
Arizona
Dec 8, 2025
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