NCAA 25: Road to CFP Features and the Evolving Landscape of College Football

The world of college football is constantly evolving, both on and off the field. From the expansion of the College Football Playoff (CFP) to the return of the beloved EA Sports College Football video game, fans have much to be excited about. This article delves into the features of NCAA 25, the changes to the CFP format, and the broader context of college football's development.

The Expanded College Football Playoff

The 2025-26 season marks the second year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. A major format change is in effect: the four highest-ranked teams will receive first-round byes, regardless of conference championships. This new format ensures that the most deserving teams, based on their overall ranking, are rewarded with a direct path to the quarterfinals.

CFP Format Details

First Round: Games will be played on campus on December 19-20, 2025. Seeds 5 through 12 will compete against each other at the home stadium of the higher-seeded teams, or another venue of their choice.
Quarterfinals: These take place at bowl sites on December 31, 2025, and January 1, 2026 (Cotton, Orange, Rose, and Sugar Bowls).
Semifinals: The Fiesta and Peach Bowls will host the semifinals on January 8-9, 2026.
National Championship: The championship game is set for January 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The final CFP Rankings will be released on December 7, 2025. Winners from the first round advance to face the top four seeds in the quarterfinals. The Fiesta and Peach Bowls will host the semifinals on Jan. 8-9, 2026. The 2025-26 College Football Playoff concludes with the National Championship Game at 7:30 pm ET on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026.

Implications of the New Format

Under the new format, the top four teams in the final CFP rankings get byes - period. Conference championships don’t guarantee a bye anymore. This means a team like Notre Dame could earn a bye if they’re ranked high enough, even without winning a conference title. There are no limits on teams per conference. The Big Ten or SEC could theoretically place five or six teams if they’re ranked high enough.

Ohio State’s run from the 8-seed to the title in 2025 proved that getting a bye isn’t everything. The big difference? The four highest-ranked teams overall get first-round byes, not just conference champions. This also prevents a situation where a lower-ranked conference champion is guaranteed a top seed.

Read also: NCAA 25 Road to Glory

Early Season Upsets and Coaching Changes

Week 3 of the college football season brought significant upsets and changes. Georgia Tech stunned Clemson 24-21 on a last-second field goal. Vanderbilt demolished South Carolina 31-7. Texas A&M pulled off a thriller at Notre Dame 41-40.

The coaching carousel is spinning early. UCLA fired DeShaun Foster and Virginia Tech dismissed Brent Pry after 0-3 starts. At 0-2, the Irish are all but eliminated from playoff contention. The Tigers are 1-2 for the first time since 2014 and completely out of the rankings. The Aggies’ road win at Notre Dame was their first against a ranked opponent since 2014.

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EA Sports College Football 25: A Long-Awaited Return

Following the release of the series' previous entry in 2013, Electronic Arts (EA) settled a lawsuit brought by former college football players who argued their name, image and, likeness (NIL) were used without permission or compensation. Initially, player names and likenesses were not to be included in the game. Because of this, several schools, including Notre Dame, Tulane and Northwestern refused to join the game until NIL rules were finalized. EA Sports responded by stating "player name, image and likeness is not currently planned for the game. However, we are watching the developments in this area closely and are prepared to take steps to include players should that opportunity arise." At the time, the NCAA had delayed and not voted on new NIL rules, but over two dozen states had either passed or proposed laws so that institutions couldn't enforce the NCAA's NIL rules. The 2021 United States Supreme Court case NCAA. v. Alston further changed the landscape.

Read also: Realistic Road to Glory Guide

Key Dates and Announcements

On November 22, 2022, EA Sports vice president and general manager Daryl Holt stated that Electronic Arts would release the game sometime in summer 2024. On February 22, 2024, EA Sports announced that all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs would be featured in EA Sports College Football 25 but the 128 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) programs would not be included at launch. That same day, ESPN's lead college football commentary team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit announced that they would be featured as commentators. Herbstreit was a commentator in EA's original NCAA Football series until its hiatus after NCAA Football 14.

Gameplay and Features

A 21-minute gameplay trailer was premiered on July 8, 2024, featuring YouTuber Bordeaux and cover athlete Donovan Edwards. They played two games, with Edwards winning both with raw gameplay being revealed soon after. As well as the trailer, the day after, an Ultimate Team Deep Dive was posted. On July 12, 2024, YouTubers and Twitch Streamers who are in EA's Creator Network program got access to a nearly final edition of the game, in which rebuilds, player careers, and raw gameplay were shortly uploaded and streamed on YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms. Other licensed music appearing in College Football 25 includes "Sandstorm", "Mo Bamba", "Kernkraft 400", "Welcome to the Jungle", "Wave on Wave", and an instrumental of "Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck".

Game Modes

EA Sports College Football 25 is one step closer to its grand return after an 11-year absence, as EA Sports on Friday revealed additional information about the game by announcing game modes, gameplay details and other features to go along with a trailer.

Dynasty Mode: The classic Dynasty Mode is back. In this mode, players create a coach, pick one of the 134 FBS programs, establish a coaching staff and build from there. Recruiting will encompass both high school prospects and the transfer portal for the first time. Players can also create a new school through Team Builder. Online Dynasty Mode will allow up to 32 players.
Road To Glory: Road To Glory is also back and will involve creating an individual player and going through their college career. Players will have to manage their weekly schedule, GPA and image, as well as earn Coach Trust to get more playing time.
Road To The College Football Playoff: One new mode is called Road To The College Football Playoff, an online format that will be playable across consoles. EA describes this feature as such: “Will you represent your university, or take a power school to climb the polls? Earn rank by upsetting the toughest opponents and securing the votes you need to progress and level up divisions. Play your way into the playoffs and battle for the National Championship.”
Ultimate Team: The game will also add a full version of Ultimate Team, which is a common feature in other sports video games and will also be playable across consoles. In this mode, players can build teams of stars and legends. In NCAA Football 14, only former college players were available in Ultimate Team. Building a team involves winning or purchasing in-game credits.

CampusIQ and Gameplay Features

The new game will debut new in-game features known as “CampusIQ,” including the “Wear & Tear System,” where player ratings can change as the hits add up. Game players will need to manage their rosters’ health, limit fatigue and make substitution decisions. There will also be Pre-Snap Recognition, which EA Sports says will involve reading the game and making the right decisions.

ESPN will serve as the in-game broadcaster. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will call marquee games, while other games will be called by Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer and David Pollack. Schools submitted thousands of assets to EA Sports over the last three years, including uniforms, crowd chants, stadium shots, rivalry trophies and more, in efforts to make the most realistic college football game ever. Notably, EA Sports’ announcement on Friday did not mention the use of name, image and likeness and any role that could play in the game. Of course, pay-for-play is still not allowed by NCAA rules.

Read also: Multiple Player Support in NCAA 25

Initial Impressions and Gameplay Experience

EA Sports dropped College Football 25, the first college football video game since 2013, this week. The title’s comeback was announced Feb. 2, 2021 - 2,765 days after NCAA Football 14 came out and 1,259 days before the new game debuted. Originally set for a 2023 release, it even faced a year delay. The developers nailed the appearance of the stadium, including the additions the school has made since the last NCAA video game 11 years ago. It sounds great, with bands blaring fight songs and filling the gaps between plays. And it feels authentic. The pre- and postgame traditions. The in-game action. The general cadence of a college football tilt.

It feels like a modernized version of NCAA Football 14, which is meant as a compliment. The series was not discontinued because it stunk. EA Sports halted production because of the name, image and likeness restrictions of the mid-2010s. It couldn’t pay players. Now, it can. The “revamped” passing system lets users have a direct impact on how good the throw is. It took a game or two to adjust to. However, if you don’t want to deal with that meter, you can switch the settings back to the classic passing mode, which is less involved. Each offensive playbook I tried offered something different. Uptempo, option, air raid. EA touted 134 ways to compete in this game, with each Division I team possessing a unique style. On Day 1, that stood out.

Road to Glory Deep Dive

When creating your character, there are four levels to choose from: Elite (five-star recruit, 79 overall rating), Blue Chip (four-star, 75), Contributor (three-star, 67) and Underdog (two-star, 60). You also select a player archetype depending on your position. Once on the virtual campus, Road to Glory gives players opportunities on and off the field. On your weekly agenda, you can allocate time to your studies (your player must maintain a 2.0 GPA to remain eligible), leadership, health, training and brand (NIL).

Your player receives texts each week that affect those categories. A classmate might reach out and invite you to a party. An academic advisor may message you about an upcoming exam. A coach could hit you up about a chance at additional practice time. A local business might present you with an NIL deal. The transfer portal is available after every season. A staple of the franchise’s older titles, Road to Glory did not disappoint. I just wish the mode began in high school like NCAA Football 14 and the menu display still looked like a dorm room, as it did in the late 2000s.

Dynasty Mode Explored

Building a program for up to 30 years? In College Football 25, it can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. The main attraction of this mode is the roster construction. When you design your coach, you can mold him in one of three ways like in Road to Glory. He can be a Motivator, a Tactician or a Recruiter.

Recruiting is interesting. There is no difficulty setting for it. During the preseason, I combed through the prospects list and fleshed out my big board. Each week, I tended to my targets. You control everything from who you offer scholarships, to when players visit your campus, to how you interact with them. (You can DM prospects on social media, though you don’t actually see the conversations.)

After the season ends and the offseason kicks off, the transfer portal opens. Many of the top players have deal breakers. In order for them to consider a school, it has to have to possess a certain quality. If you’d rather speed through games and don’t want to deal with recruiting, that works, too. You can enable automated recruiting in settings, and the computer will moderate it for you. That’s not the only responsibility in Dynasty. You can customize your team’s schedule or realign the conferences, hire and fire assistant coaches, manage your players’ goals and skill progressions, encourage them to enter the portal and more. You also could be fired if you don’t meet the standards outlined in your contract.

Stadium Pulse Controversy

In College Football 25, online head-to-head matches Road To College Football Playoffs did not have the Stadium Pulse feature, and gameplay felt much fairer and more balanced. Without this mechanic, both players competed on a truly level playing field where skill and strategy determined the outcome rather than artificial pressure effects or distractions. The competitive integrity of online matches was much stronger, making the experience more enjoyable and rewarding. Adding Stadium Pulse to online H2H matches in College Football 26 creates an unfair advantage that disrupts this balance. It’s similar to giving one player a better car in a racing game or better weapons in a shooter. For the sake of fair and competitive online play, I strongly urge you to remove or disable Stadium Pulse in head-to-head matches, just as it was in CFB 25. This change would improve player satisfaction and keep the focus on skill-based competition. Giving one side a clear advantage is silly.

The Evolution of College Football

College football is arguably the oldest organized sport in the United States. It is substantially older than its professional counterpart, the NFL, and its earliest game, in 1869, was occurring at almost the same time professional baseball was getting started. The NCAA did eventually come to oversee much of college football. For example, in 1957, the NCAA organized college football into University and College divisions, with larger programs in the University Division, smaller ones in the College Division. In 1973, the NCAA created Division I out of the University Division, and Divisions II and III out of the College Division for smaller programs with scholarships (Div II) and without scholarships (Div III). In 1978, Division I was sub-divided into I-A (largest programs) and I-AA, which would later be renamed FBS (I-A) and FCS (I-AA) respectively.

However, FBS programs resisted making any changes to how its post-season was organized. This was because of the popularity and profitability of bowl games, which had become major TV events in the decades following World War II. Bowl games, which for many years were only exhibition games, became so popular and important within college football that, starting in 1965, the AP (sportswriters) Poll waited until after the bowl games were completed to declare its national champion. This evolution led the FBS annual "national champion" open to considerable debate and controversy.

The Road to the College Football Playoff

While the NCAA has never officially endorsed a championship team, it has documented the choices of some selectors in its official NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records publication. In addition, various analysts have independently published their own choices for each season. These opinions can often diverge with others as well as individual schools' claims to national titles, which may or may not correlate to the selections published elsewhere. Among the most widely recognized national champion selectors has been the Associated Press (AP), which has conducted the AP Poll of sportswriters since the 1936 season.

As the years passed, public pressure for a playoff grew, especially following seasons in which there were split national championships in the polls. By the 1990s, the sport underwent several changes that led to a playoff. The 1992 SEC Championship Game was an enormous risk that paid off well for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) that year and in future years and gave a glimpse at what post-season football might look like. Other conferences would follow suit over the next decade. FBS schools also began making changes to bowl games themselves in the 1990s to increase the likelihood of having the top two ranked teams play each other.

However, existing bowl tie-ins with conferences made arrangements such as the Bowl Coalition (1992-1994) and then Bowl Alliance (1995-1997) clumsy and incomplete at best. The Bowl Championship Series in 1998 succeeded in finally bringing all major conferences and bowl games into the fold for a combined BCS National Championship Game rotated amongst the four largest, most profitable bowl games - Fiesta, Orange, Rose, and Sugar. BCS rankings originally incorporated the two major polls as well as a number of computer ranking systems to determine the two best teams at the end of the season.

Although the BCS era did regularly produce compelling matchups, the winnowing selection of the top two teams resulted in many BCS controversies, most notably 2003's split national championship caused by the BCS rankings leaving USC, No. 1 in both major polls, out of the Sugar Bowl. This controversy ultimately led to the AP Poll withdrawing from the BCS, and additional fine-tuning of the BCS formula.

The CFP Era and Expansion

In 2014, the College Football Playoff made its debut, facilitating a multi-game single-elimination tournament for the first time in college football history. Four teams are seeded by a 13-member selection committee rather than by existing polls or mathematical rankings. The Cotton and Peach bowls were also brought into the fold. From the beginning of the CFP, many within college football wanted a playoff larger than four teams. Several years of the 4-team playoff led to growing calls for expansion.

In June 2021, the CFP announced that it would begin studying an expansion to a 12-team playoff. On February 18, 2022, the CFP rejected the playoff proposal that had seemed to have already won approval, largely through resistance of the Atlantic Coast Conference. This pushed implementation of any changes to the playoff pool to no sooner than the 2026 season. However, that decision was reversed on September 2, 2022, following the announcement by USC and UCLA that they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. The "alliance" between the ACC, Pac-12, and Big Ten dissolved, and along with it resistance to playoff expansion. Conferences and bowls negotiated early expansion for several months during the fall of 2022.

Strength of Schedule and Conference Realignment

"Strength of schedule will become such an important factor…". Due to the increased emphasis on strength of schedule, teams have considered playing more challenging opponents during the non-conference portion of their schedules. Some teams have traditionally played three or four "weak" non-conference opponents, but wins against such low-level competition are unlikely to impress the committee. Teams in the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine conference games on their twelve-game schedules and thus only have flexibility in choosing their opponents for the three non-league games.

In response to the new playoff system, the Southeastern Conference considered increasing its conference schedule from eight to nine games, with Alabama coach Nick Saban a vocal proponent. According to Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, "The prevailing opinion among SEC athletics directors: The SEC is difficult enough that there's no need for a ninth game." Some in the conference, like Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin, expressed the opinion that a nine-game SEC schedule would result in more teams with two losses. Commissioner Michael Slive and Vanderbilt AD David Williams, among others, supported a stronger out-of-league schedule, which would likely impress the committee. In April 2014, the league voted to mandate that all SEC teams must play a Power Five foe (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, or independent Notre Dame) in its non-conference slate beginning in 2016. The ACC, whose teams also play eight conference games (plus Notre Dame at least once every three years), also considered moving to a nine-game conference schedule.

The Selection Committee

A 13-member committee has selected and seeded the teams to take part in the CFP. This system differs from the use of polls or computer rankings that had previously been used to select the participants for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the title system used in FBS from 1998 to 2013. The committee members include one current athletic director from each of the five "major" conferences-ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC-also known as the Power Five conferences. Other members are former coaches, players, athletic directors, and administrators, plus a retired member of the media.

The committee releases its top 25 rankings weekly on Tuesdays in the second half of the regular season. Long said the panel considered less frequent rankings, but ultimately decided on a weekly release. "That's what the fans have become accustomed to, and we felt it would leave a void in college football without a ranking for several weeks," he said. Long also noted: "Early on there was some talk that we would go into a room at the end of the season and come out with a top four, but that didn't last long."

In analyzing this change in thinking, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated commented: "The whole point of the selection committee was to replace the simplistic horse-race nature of Top 25 polls - where teams only move up if someone above them loses - with a more deliberative evaluation method. Now the playoff folks are going to try to do both." Addressing the "pecking order" nature of traditional polls, George Schrodeder of USA Today wrote that "if it actually works as intended, we could see volatile swings" from week to week, with lower-ranked teams moving ahead of higher-ranked teams without either team losing (a rarity in traditional polls).

The committee's voting method uses multiple ballots, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and the entire process is facilitated through custom software developed by Code Authority in Frisco, Texas. From a large initial pool of teams, the group takes numerous votes on successive tiers of teams, considering six at a time and coming to a consensus on how they should be ranked, then repeating the process with the next tier of teams. Discussion and debate happens at each voting step. Committee members who are currently employed or financially compensated by a school, or have family members who have a current financial relationship (which includes football players), are not allowed to vote for that school. During deliberations about a team's selection, members with such a conflict of interest cannot be present, but can answer factual questions about the institution. All committee members have past ties to certain NCAA institutions, but the committee decided to ignore those ties in the recusal requirements.

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