When the College Football Playoff tripled in size from four to 12 teams ahead of the 2024 season, there was a reward built into the new bracket.
Rather than each of the playoff participants starting play at the same time, the top four seeds received a first-round bye, giving them an automatic berth in the national quarterfinals. After a long, physically demanding regular season, the thought was that those four squads would benefit from the extra rest as they prepared for their opportunity to compete for a national championship.
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What was conceived as a perk has thus far been more of a burden.
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Halfway through the quarterfinals of the second 12-team playoff, teams coming off a bye have struggled mightily, with no wins in those matchups, though it’s been an admittedly small sample size (six games).
As No. 1 Indiana tries to buck that trend with its matchup against No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 1, here’s a closer look at how bye teams have fared thus far in the College Football Playoff:
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Defensive back Tony-Louis Nkuba #21 of the Arizona State Sun Devils celebrates by jumping into an inflatable bowl of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes after intercepting a pass against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half of the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl game at Sun Bowl Stadium on December 31, 2025 in El Paso, Texas
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Defensive back Tony-Louis Nkuba #21 of the Arizona State Sun Devils celebrates by jumping into an inflatable bowl of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes after intercepting a pass against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half of the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl game at Sun Bowl Stadium on December 31, 2025 in El Paso, Texas
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Tony the Tiger stands on the field after the coin toss before a football game between Duke and Arizona State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) greats the Pop-Tarts mascots before the Pop-Tarts Bowl against the BYU Cougars at Camping World Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Pop-Tarts mascots celebrate with BYU Cougars after beating Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Pop-Tarts Bowl at Camping World Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Pop-Tarts mascots celebrate with BYU Cougars after beating Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Pop-Tarts Bowl at Camping World Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl mascots perform on the field before a game between the Michigan Wolverines and Texas Longhorns at Camping World Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Louisville Cardinals players celebrate after defeating the Toledo Rockets in the Boca Raton Bowl at Flagler CU Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch holds the LA Bowl championship belt presented by Rob Gronkowski after defeating the Boise State Broncos at SoFi Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Musical artist/rapper Snoop Dogg holds the championship trophy after the Fresno State Bulldogs defeated the Miami (OH) RedHawks 18-3 to win the 2025 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl at Casino Del Sol Stadium on December 27, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Actor Keegan-Michael Key receives the game coin prior to the 2025 Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans game between the Louisville Cardinals and the Toledo Rockets at Flagler Credit Union Stadium on December 23, 2025 in Boca Raton, Florida.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Comedians Theo Von, left, and Nate Bargatze watch from the sidelines during the first half of the ReliaQuest Bowl between Iowa Hawkeyes and Vanderbilt Commodores at Raymond James Stadium on December 31, 2025 in Tampa, Florida.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Head coach Jeff Traylor of the UTSA Roadrunners is doused with water by Jamel Hardy #13 during the fourth quarter against the FIU Panthers in the 2025 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on December 26, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken gets splashed with Powerade after Army beat UConn 41-16 in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Fenway Park.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Interim head coach Drew Svoboda of the North Texas Mean Green is doused after his team defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 49-47 in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl at University Stadium on December 27, 2025 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Northwestern Wildcats players dump Gatorade on head coach David Braun of the Northwestern Wildcats after defeating the Central Michigan Chippewas in the 2025 GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field on December 26, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Head coach John Hauser of the Ohio Bobcats is doused with water after winning the game against the UNLV Rebels at the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl at Ford Center on December 23, 2025 in Frisco, Texas.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott is doused with Gatorade after winning the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium Saturday December 27, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. Virginia defeated Missouri 13-7.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Fresno State Bulldogs head coach Matt Entz is doused with gatorade after defeating the Miami (OH) RedHawks during the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl at Casino Del Sol Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Head coach Clay Helton of the Georgia Southern Eagles receives a Powerade dunk after winning the JLab Birmingham Bowl by beating the Appalachian State Mountaineers 29-10 at Protective Stadium on December 29, 2025 in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Interim Head Coach Terry M. Smith of the Penn State Nittany Lions lifts the championship trophy following the game against the Clemson Tigers during the 2025 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on December 27, 2025 in New York City.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) and head coach Kalani Sitake are presented a large pop-tart to eat after they beat the against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Camping World Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Ken Seals #9 of the TCU Horned Frogs celebrates with teammates after defeating the USC Trojans in the game at the Alamodome on December 30, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Head coach Willie Fritz of the Houston Cougars celebrates with the Texas Bowl Trophy after defeating the Louisiana State Tigers during the Kinder’s Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium on December 27, 2025 in Houston, Texas.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Conner Weigman #1 of the Houston Cougars is named Texas Bowl MVP during the Kinder’s Texas Bowl against the Louisiana State Tigers at NRG Stadium on December 27, 2025 in Houston, Texas.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Maverick McIvor #7 of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers reacts as he recieves the MVP trophy after his team defeated the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles to win the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at Caesars Superdome on December 23, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Old Dominion Monarchs hoist the Cure Bowl trophy after beating the South Florida Bulls at Camping World Stadium.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Jacksonville State Gamecocks running back Khristian Lando (22) hoists the trophy as Troy Trojans take on Jacksonville State Gamecocks during the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Jacksonville State Gamecocks defeated Troy Trojans 17-13.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Interim head coach Drew Svoboda of the North Texas Mean Green raises the championship trophy after his team defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 49-47 in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl at University Stadium on December 27, 2025 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
Micah Alejado #12 of the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors holds up the Hawai’i Bowl Championship trophy after winning the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl over the California Golden Bears at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on December 24, 2025 in Honolulu, Hawai’i.
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Best of bowl season: Mascots, trophies, celebrations, Gatorade baths
NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren receives the trophy after beating Memphis Tigers in the Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.
CFP bye teams record
Heading into Indiana’s game against Alabama in the Rose Bowl, teams that receive a bye in the College Football Playoff are 0-6.
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This season, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Texas Tech have lost, with the Buckeyes falling to No. 10 Miami 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl and the Red Raiders getting blanked by No. 5 Oregon in the Orange Bowl, 23-0.
There’s some nuance to that figure.
During the inaugural 12-team playoff at the end of the 2024 season, the top four seeds went to the four highest-ranked conference champions, not the four-highest ranked teams. Because of that, Boise State earned the No. 3 seed despite being No. 9 in the playoff committee’s final ranking and Arizona State got the No. 4 seed despite being No. 12 in the final committee rankings (No. 16 Clemson, which earned the No. 12 seed, was the lowest-rated conference champion).
The Broncos and Sun Devils lost to Penn State and Texas, respectively, in their quarterfinal games. Both Texas (No. 3) and Penn State (No. 4) were ranked higher in the final committee rankings, despite being lower seeds than Boise State and Arizona State.
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This year, due in part to that setup, the format changed, with the top four seeds and the automatic byes going to the four highest-ranked teams in the final committee rankings. So far, it hasn’t changed the outcomes, with Ohio State and Texas Tech losing.
It has raised the question of whether the extra week-and-a-half off has helped teams or knocked them out of the rhythm they had established over the course of the regular season, the classic rest-or-rust argument.
There’s some evidence showing it might be the latter.
The six losing teams that had received byes averaged just 15 points per game, with four of the six scoring 14 points or fewer. Those struggles have been most pronounced early in the games, when any lag from the extra time off would be most evident. The six teams that earned byes and lost their quarterfinal games combined to score just 21 points in the first half. None of those squads scored more than eight points. This year, neither Ohio State nor Texas Tech scored in the opening 30 minutes.
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BOWL SCHEDULE: The entire postseason lineup and results through CFP
CFP bye team results
Here’s a look at how teams that earned byes in the College Football Playoff fared in their opening games:
2024
No. 8 Ohio State 41, No. 1 Oregon 21
No. 7 Notre Dame 23, No. 2 Georgia 10
No. 6 Penn State 31, No. 3 Boise State 14
No. 5 Texas 39, No. 4 Arizona State 31 (2 OT)
2025
No. 10 Miami 24, No. 2 Ohio State 14
No. 5 Oregon 23, No. 4 Texas Tech 0
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: CFP teams with a first-round bye have gone 0-6 going into Rose Bowl
