How to watch College Football Playoffs 2025/26: FREE live streams, preview, schedule

The College Football Playoffs get underway this weekend with a quadruple-header of First Round ties, two of which are rematches from the regular season. First up is No.9 Alabama vs No.8 Oklahoma, a matchup charged with confusion and a touch of controversy.

You can watch the 2025/26 College Football Playoffs from anywhere with a VPN and potentially for FREE.

The Crimson Tide are lucky to have made the cut, given the beatdown they took in the SEC Championship Game. There's no use being sheepish about it, and the clash with the Sooners grants an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Oklahoma's 23-21 victory over Bama last month was one of the strangest results of the season. The Sooners have an elite defense but the Crimson Tide dominated proceedings, gaining 406 yards to 212, only to crash out with a trio of turnovers.

No.10 Miami vs No.7 Texas A&M stands to be the game of the round, a clash of legitimate title contenders. Not only has the Hurricanes' elite pass rush has helped engineer 20 turnovers this season, but their top-10 rush defense is sturdy enough to handle the Aggies' run-first offense too. The question is whether Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed can carry the game in his hands. He'll be leaning heavily on WR KC Concepcion, while Miami's Carson Beck will be able to split the load with breakout freshman RB Malachi Toney.

No.11 Tulane vs No.6 Ole Miss is another rematch that promises to be fascinating. The Rebels ran riot to the tune of 45-10 in September, but their coach of six years Lane Kiffin has just left for LSU. This will be former DC Pete Golding's first ever head coaching assignment, and it's going to take something extraordinary for the recent disruption not to have an impact. The Green Wave are on a run of five straight wins, and look much more convincing than they did three months ago.

The First Round slate concludes with No.12 James Madison vs No.5 Oregon, the only matchup to really make your toes curl with concern. With Tulane, the Dukes have made history as one of two Group of Five teams reached the CFP, but in their only previous encounter with a Power Four opponent, they were comfortably beaten 14-28 by Louisville. The Ducks, meanwhile, have a top-six offense and defense, and steamrolled Oregon State 41-7 in thie most recent clash with a Group of Five opponent.

Here's how to watch College Football Playoffs 2025/26 from anywhere in the world, and potentially for free.

College Football Playoffs schedule 2025/26

Watch College Football Playoffs 2025/26 from anywhere

Away from home and blocked from watching the College Football Playoffs?

You can still watch your usual CFP live streams thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The software makes your devices to appear to be back in your home country regardless of where in the world you are. Ideal for fans away on vacation or on business. Our favorite is NordVPN. It's the best on the market:

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Using a VPN is incredibly simple.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you want to watch your free DAZN stream of the games, choose 'United Kingdom' from the list.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to DAZN and watch the College Football Playoffs live.

How to watch College Football Playoffs 2025/26 in the U.S.

In the U.S., College Football Playoffs coverage is split between a multitude of channels and streaming services, including ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, SEC Network, ACC Network, TNT, TruTV, ESPN Unlimited and HBO Max.

However, a single subscription to Sling TV will get you comprehensive coverage.

That's because the Sling Orange plan carries ESPN and TNT, which are showing all 11 CFP games between them.

The plan, which also includes ESPN2 and TBS, costs $5 per day, $10 for three days, $15/week, $46/month or $115/quarter.

How to watch College Football Playoffs 2025/26 in Canada

ESPN's college football coverage is shown on TSN in Canada, which means nine of the 11 CFP games — including the National Championship, both semi-finals and all four quarter-finals — are available to watch in the Great White North.

A TSN Plus subscription grants access to everything TSN has to offer for just CA$8/month or CA$80/year.

If you're outside Canada but have a subscription, you can watch the College Football Playoffs with the aid of a VPN, such as NordVPN.

How to watch College Football Playoffs 2025/26 in the U.K.

In the U.K., the College Football Playoffs are free-to-air on DAZN.

The streaming service is also home to non-CFP bowl games, NCAA basketball and March Madness.

Best of all, all of DAZN's NCAA coverage is free-to-air for a limited time. All you need is an account. A DAZN subscription usually costs £24.99/month or £180/year.

If you're on holiday outside the U.K., you can still follow your usual College Football Playoffs live streams by using one of the best VPN services, such as NordVPN.

How to watch College Football Playoffs 2025/26 in Australia

In Australia, college football has been subject to a lot of chopping and changing of late, but coverage is now being provided by DAZN.

The streamer is yet to unveil its plans for College Football Playoffs coverage at the time of writing, but it tends to show select games free-of-charge each week. All you need is an account. A DAZN subscription usually starts at AU$14.99/month.

Kayo Sports will also have some of the game on their platform, with a first week available for just AU$1.

Not in Australia right now? You can simply use a VPN like NordVPN to tune in on your account as if you were back home.

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