Find out how the ACC Championship impacts the College Football Playoff and whether Duke or Virginia will make the CFP bracket. James Madison is anxiously watching as chaos looms.

The College Football Playoff bracket is set, and as the 12 teams competing for the national championship prepare for the postseason, there is no debate about who enters the final stretch of the 2025-26 season ranked No.

In a protest of the decision, Notre Dame has since declined its bowl game invitation, and now, the Fighting Irish’s athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, is speaking out against the committee’s final rankings, and specifically, the ACC’s lobbying for Miami to get into the playoff.

In the American Athletic Conference title game, No. 20 Tulane beat No. 24 North Texas with a CFP spot on the line for the winner.

Alabama (10-3) could become the first team in the CFP era to receive an at-large bid with three losses on its résume after losing to Georgia 28-7 in the SEC title game. Last season, Clemson reached the CFP by winning the ACC title despite having three losses on its résumé. Alabama is seeking its first CFP appearance in the post-Nick Saban era.

Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia called on President Donald Trump to make an executive order to increase the College Football Playoff field.