Cover 3 College Football: 2025 College Football Playoff Bracket Reveal Reaction

CBS Sports | Hosts: Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Bud Elliott (Danny Kanell absent from this episode)
Date: December 7, 2025

Overview

This episode delivers immediate, in-depth reactions to the just-announced 2025 College Football Playoff bracket. The hosts break down the field, debate the controversial seeding decisions—especially Alabama, Miami, and Notre Dame—and give quick predictions and early picks. Key themes include the playoff format, power conference representation, group-of-five (G5) inclusion, the ACC’s rough season, and match-up breakdowns for the opening round.

Main Topics & Insights

1. Playoff Bracket Reactions & Surprises [00:29]

• Bracket Overview:
  • Indiana is the 1-seed, followed by Ohio State (2), Georgia (3), and Texas Tech (4).
  • Key placements:
    • Alabama (9): No major penalty for big loss to Georgia.
    • Miami (10): Jumps Notre Dame at the final hour; both finished 10-2, but Miami won the head-to-head.
    • First team out: Notre Dame.
    • Second team out: BYU.
• Hosts’ Reactions:
  • No immediate outrage; "nobody's gonna like be really urgent" about changing the 12-team format ([Bud Elliott, 02:50]).
  • The transparency, or lack thereof, in the rankings process is debated, especially regarding Miami leapfrogging Notre Dame during an idle week.

"Further confirmation that none of the rankings matter before today..."
— Tom Fornelli [03:10]

2. Format Debates & Group of Five Inclusion [04:56]

• SEC Representation:
  • Five SEC teams in, averaging four over two years.
• G5 Teams:
  • Tulane (11), James Madison (12) from the AAC and Sunbelt respectively.
  • Is G5 inclusion a problem? Consensus: Not if power conference teams (e.g., ACC) don’t underperform.

"The problem isn't that the G5 teams got in, it’s that the ACC's best teams all sucked."
— Tom Fornelli [05:04]

• Should there be a “Top 20” cutoff for auto-bids?
  • Debate over whether conference champs should be required to finish in the Top 20 for auto-inclusion.
  • Consensus emerges: setting an arbitrary cutoff enables committee manipulation and is exclusionary.

"If you put it at 20, they just move Tulane to 21, then they get to put in Notre Dame."
— Tom Fornelli [07:52]

3. Rematches & Bracketing Nuances [08:42]

• Rematch Tolerance:
  • The committee appears unconcerned with avoiding regular-season rematches in opening rounds.
• College Football vs. College Basketball:
  • No prohibition on conference foes facing off early in the CFB playoff bracket.

4. First-Round Matchup Analysis & Predictions [11:19]

Alabama (9) at Oklahoma (8) — Friday, Dec 19, 8pm ET [15:02]

• Early lean towards Alabama; belief that turnovers and blitz pickup determine the outcome.
• Key Picks:
  • Chip and Bud: Alabama.
  • Tom: Ultimately chooses Alabama; expects a low-scoring game.

"Don't turn the ball over, be better in blitz pickup and you'll come out of there with a win."
— Bud Elliott [13:02]

Oregon (5) vs JMU (12) — Saturday, Dec 20, 8pm ET

• Oregon is a heavy favorite; main concern is staying healthy.
• JMU's offensive line struggles noted.

Miami (10) at Texas A&M (7) — Saturday, Dec 20, 12pm ET

• Consensus: This will be a physical, defensive game; turnovers likely to decide the winner.
• Miami is “the second-best team A&M has faced all year.”
• Both QBs have high interception totals vs SEC opposition.

"Which quarterback gonna screw up kind of game?"
— Chip Patterson [22:41]

Tulane (11) at Ole Miss (6) — Saturday, Dec 20, 3:30pm ET

• Ole Miss is the clear favorite but less certainty than Oregon/JMU.

5. Quarterfinal and Semifinal Paths [16:48, 28:43]

• Quarterfinal Sites & Pairings:

  • Cotton Bowl (New Year's Eve): Ohio State vs. Miami/Texas A&M winner
  • Orange Bowl (New Year's Day): Texas Tech vs. Oregon/JMU winner
  • Rose Bowl: Indiana vs. Alabama/Oklahoma winner
  • Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Ole Miss/Tulane winner

• Hosts’ Predictions (Brackets):

  • All three (Chip, Bud, Tom) tip Indiana, Ohio State, and Georgia to make deep runs.
  • All three select Ohio State as national champion.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If Notre Dame was better than Miami all year and then on a week where neither of them played, Miami suddenly became better than Notre Dame… It's all for entertainment for seven weeks and then they decide."
  — Tom Fornelli [03:19]

• "It's too easy to control. ...You either have automatic qualifiers or you don't. If you don't want any, then get rid of them all."
  — Tom Fornelli [08:33]

• "This is the only sport I know where we don't want to give everybody a chance. ...We had to expand to give more teams a chance. Now we've done that, everybody's like, well we can't give all these teams a chance…"
  — Tom Fornelli [06:58]

• On Miami's emotion after sneaking in:
  "That's an adrenaline rush that'll wear out pretty quick... once the game starts, I don't think that [motivation] does a whole lot for you."
  — Tom Fornelli [24:41]

• On Ohio State:
  "I think walking off that field without a trophy is going to sit with this team. I think there will be an impact on how this team approaches the College Football Playoff..."
  — Chip Patterson [33:17]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Bracket reveal & immediate reactions | 00:29 | | Big takeaways from committee’s process | 02:29 - 03:55| | Conference breakdowns & G5 debate | 04:38 - 05:55| | Auto-bid “Top 20” cutoff debate | 07:17 - 08:33| | Rematches and bracketing philosophy | 08:42 - 11:12| | First-round matchups preview (Alabama/Oklahoma, etc.) | 11:19 - 22:04| | Match times/dates announce; TV slots | 15:02 - 17:49| | Quarterfinal and semifinal site discussion | 16:34 - 18:16| | Hosts’ thoughts on Miami’s mentality | 23:52 - 24:51| | Final brackets & rapid picks from each host | 28:43 - 36:44| | Notre Dame hypotheticals & closing thoughts on format | 36:06 - 37:59|

Hosts' Final Bracket Picks

Tom Fornelli

• 1st Round winners: Alabama, Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
• Semis: Indiana, Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State
• Final: Ohio State over Indiana

Bud Elliott

• 1st Round winners: Alabama, Oregon, Ole Miss, Miami
• Semis: Indiana, Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State
• Final: Ohio State over Oregon

Chip Patterson

• 1st Round winners: Alabama, Oregon, Ole Miss, Miami
• Semis: Indiana, Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State
• Final: Ohio State over Indiana

"We've got a bracket. Let's go play the games. Let's not think about the selection committee—let's think about these matchups. We're fired up."
— Chip Patterson [36:44]

Conclusion

The hosts celebrate the arrival of a full-sized playoff bracket while poking holes in the selection process, especially concerning the narrative-driven changes and last-minute shuffling near the bubble. The ACC comes under heavy scrutiny for underperformance, while G5 teams' participation is defended as a byproduct of other leagues’ failings—not a broken system. All three hosts ultimately pick Ohio State to win it all, signaling strong consensus on the power at the top of the Big Ten.

For complete expert breakdowns, listen to the full episode or tune into upcoming “Upon Further Review” shows for bowl game analysis and more bracket talk.