NCAA Football: Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech
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The road to glory is almost complete, but for the four teams remaining in the College Football Playoff, the toughest task on that path to a national championship still lies ahead. In order to hoist the CFP trophy at season's end, the title winner must win two more games against the toughest competition in the sport and put a bow on their title run with a victory in the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship. That means three consecutive postseason wins in total, or four if the eventual champion played in the first round.

Last year's winner, Ohio State, ran the table despite having to play in the first round. Now that the bracket has been reconstructed with a straight-seeding model for 2025, will one of the four teams to receive a first-round bye take advantage of needing one fewer win to reach the mountaintop? No. 1 Indiana is the only such squad remaining after No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech each lost in the quarterfinals, and the Hoosiers will be the favorites to win the championship so long as they remain in contention.

Indiana must first get past No. 5 Oregon, which already has two CFP wins under its belt and just eliminated Texas Tech in shutout fashion. The Hoosiers handed the Ducks their only loss of the campaign when the Big Ten foes met in the regular season. The rematch is set for Jan. 9 in the Peach Bowl.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 6 Ole Miss meets No. 10 Miami on Jan. 8 in the Fiesta Bowl. Neither program had ever reached the CFP prior to this season, but they proved that the selection committee made the right choice in including them for the 2025 version with back-to-back wins to open the tournament. One of the two will play for the national championship.

In fact, regardless of what occurs in the semifinals, the winner of the Jan. 19 title game will become a first-time CFP champion. And for Oregon and Indiana, the first national championship in program history regardless of selecting organization is on the table.

CFP National Championship location, date, time

Date: Monday, Jan. 19 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Hard Rock Stadium -- Miami Gardens, Florida
TV: ESPN | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)