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How the composite score, the 12-team field, and the bracket are built.
Every team gets one number between 0 and 1, the composite score, built from four components. Each component is computed from game results only: no polls, no preseason priors, no brand names. The weights below are the exact values used for the current run.
What a team has earned on the field: wins, losses, and the quality of those results this season.
Estimated true team strength: how good the team looks independent of who it has played. Blends margin-aware ratings (Massey) with Elo.
Strength of Record: how impressive this team's win-loss record is given the schedule it actually played.
Strength of Schedule: how difficult this team's slate of opponents was, win or lose.
The 12-team field follows the CFP's bid structure:
Every selection decision (champions identified, bids awarded, displacement, seeding) is logged step by step in the audit trail on the Bubble page, so you can trace exactly why a team is in or out.
The four highest-ranked conference champions get seeds 1–4 and the first-round byes, even when a higher-ranked at-large team exists. This is what pushed teams like a one-loss at-large power below a conference champion on the seed line in 2024.
Teams are seeded 1–12 strictly by ranking. The top four seeds get the byes regardless of championship status; automatic qualifiers keep their bids but not a seeding boost.
In both formats the bracket pods are fixed by seed: 8/9 plays into the 1 seed, 5/12 into the 4, 6/11 into the 3, and 7/10 into the 2. There is no re-seeding between rounds.
Live runs pull schedules, results, and conference championships from the College Football Data API, with team logos and colors from ESPN's public assets. Sample runs use a bundled synthetic season so the whole product works offline. Every page here renders the same either way.
Current run: 2025 week 15 · Live CFBD · engine v3.0.0