College Football Playoff 2025: Going inside every first-round matchup - ESPN

South Bend, State College, Austin and Columbus set the bar high last season. Now it's time to shine the spotlight on Norman, College Station, Oxford and Eugene.

The first round of last year's inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff was memorable primarily for the otherworldly atmospheres — and, consequently, home-field advantages — it produced. Notre Dame Stadium levitated as Jeremiyah Love raced 98 yards for an early touchdown against Indiana. SMU's Kevin Jennings had to call timeout because he couldn't hear at Penn State's Beaver Stadium, then the crowd got even louder and he threw a pick-six. The four home teams were favored by an average of 8.8 points but won by an average of 19.3.

The second-ever first round gives us four more celebrated home crowds to put on display. Granted, close games are even better advertisements for the sport, but we might get a couple of those this time around, too. Let's see what script the sport writes this time around.

We head into the CFP with two clear favorites, a spicy No. 3 and a few others with a puncher's chance at the title. Here are the projections, per SP+:

(Note: These title odds are slightly different than what I posted after the CFP draw because of some slight changes I made to the win probability model.)

The first round gives us two projected tight games and two underdog upset bids. While coaching changes have been a big theme in the run-up — Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin (LSU), Tulane's Jon Sumrall (Florida) and James Madison's Bob Chesney (UCLA) have all taken other jobs, as have Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein (Kentucky head coach), defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi (Cal) and Texas A&M's OC Collin Klein (Kansas State) — only Kiffin won't be coaching in the first round,