‘College GameDay’ Announces Destinations for First Round of CFP

The “College GameDay” crew is heading to two destinations for Round 1 of the CFP.

Pat McAfee and the ‘College GameDay’ crew are heading to two locations for the first round of the College Football Playoff. / Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Last weekend, College GameDay traveled to Atlanta for the SEC championship game between Georgia and Alabama. Georgia won handily, but both teams were among the 12 programs that earned spots in this year’s College Football Playoff.

The CFP does not begin until next week, but in advance of the playoff’s first round, College GameDay has announced that it will be heading to two destinations for the first weekend of playoff games. Here are those destinations.

ESPN’s College GameDay CFP destinations

College GameDay will first be traveling to Norman, Okla. on Dec. 19 for the first-round matchup between No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama. This will mark the second time that the GameDay crew heads to Oklahoma this season, after previously traveling to the Sooners for their home win over Michigan on Sep. 6.

This game will serve as a rematch of Oklahoma’s 23–21 win over Alabama nearly a month ago on Nov. 15. Alabama, who has slumped as of late, will look to rebound against a Sooners squad that has won four straight.

The following day, College GameDay will be in College Station, Texas on Dec. 20 for the first-round game between No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 10 Miami. Texas A&M enters this game after their lone loss of the season against Texas, while Miami heads in after earning the final CFP spot over Notre Dame. This will be the first game between the inter-conference foes since early 2023, when Miami took down Texas A&M 48–33.

Two days. Two shows.

Next week, we're heading to Norman on Friday and College Station on Saturday for the first round of the College Football Playoff! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eipZaAB2Ge

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 10, 2025

College GameDay chose to head to these two locations over Oxford, Miss. and Eugene, Ore. Oklahoma–Alabama is the only CFP game on Friday, Dec. 19, making that game an easy choice. Meanwhile, Ole Miss will host Tulane and Oregon will host James Madison on Saturday, Dec. 20. Unsurprisingly, College GameDay is choosing to spotlight a couple games between power four teams and closer seeds over the games featuring two Group of 5 teams that rank significantly lower than the rest of the playoff field.

Every College GameDay destination of the 2025 season

Week	Date	City	Home Team	Away Team	Game Score
1	Aug. 30	Columbus, Ohio	Ohio State	Texas	14–7, Ohio State
2	Sept. 6	Norman, Okla.	Oklahoma	Michigan	24–13, Oklahoma
3	Sept. 13	Knoxville, Tenn.	Tennessee	Georgia	44–41, Georgia (OT)
4	Sept. 20	Coral Gables, Fla.	Miami	Florida	26–7, Miami
5	Sept. 27	University Park, Pa.	Penn State	Oregon	30–24, Oregon (2OT)
6	Oct. 4	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	Alabama	Vanderbilt	30–14, Alabama
7	Oct. 11	Eugene, Ore.	Oregon	Indiana	30–20, Indiana
8	Oct. 18	Athens, Ga.	Georgia	Ole Miss	43–35, Georgia
9	Oct. 25	Nashville, Tenn.	Vanderbilt	Missouri	17–10, Vanderbilt
10	Nov. 1	Salt Lake City, Utah	Utah	Cincinnati	45-14, Utah
11	Nov. 8	Lubbock, Texas	Texas Tech	BYU	29-7, Texas Tech
12	Nov. 15	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Pittsburgh	Notre Dame	37-15, Notre Dame
13	Nov. 22	Eugene, Ore.	Oregon	USC	42-27, Oregon
14	Nov. 29	Ann Arbor, Mich.	Michigan	Ohio State	27-9, Ohio State
15	Dec. 6	Atlanta, Ga.	Georgia	Alabama	28-7, Georgia
CFP Round 1	Dec. 19	Norman, Okla.	Oklahoma	Alabama	TBD
CFP Round 1	Dec. 20	College Station, Texas	Texas A&M	Miami	TBD

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