American Conference champion Tulane has earned the No. 11 seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff, marking the second time a team from the league has qualified for the CFP following Cincinnati’s appearance in 2021.

The Green Wave will travel to face No. 6 seed Ole Miss in a first-round matchup on Saturday, December 20, at 3:30 p.m. in Oxford, Mississippi. The game will air live on TNT and HBO Max.

Top-seeded Indiana secured a first-round bye along with No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 Texas Tech. The remaining opening-round contests include No. 12 James Madison visiting No. 5 Oregon, No. 10 Miami challenging No. 7 Texas A&M, and No. 9 Alabama taking on No. 8 Oklahoma.

An American Conference record nine teams will be competing in postseason games, surpassing the eight league teams that played in bowl games in 2015 and 2024.

Tulane, East Carolina, Memphis and Navy will face Power 4 opponents. In addition to the Green Wave’s CFP matchup with Ole Miss of the SEC, Memphis will take on ACC member N.C. State in the Gasparilla Bowl, ECU will tangle with ACC member Pitt in the Military Bowl and Navy will play Cincinnati of the Big 12 in the Liberty Bowl.

Other league opponents in the bowl season will include two from the Sun Belt, one each from Conference USA and the Mountain West and one independent.

Schedule of games in calendar order:

StaffDNA Cure Bowl
South Florida (9-3) vs. Old Dominion (9-3)
Wednesday, December 17 | 5 p.m. ET | ESPN
Camping World Stadium | Orlando
13th bowl appearance for South Florida

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Memphis (8-4) vs. NC State (7-5)
Friday, December 19 | 2:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Raymond James Stadium | Tampa
19th bowl appearance for Memphis

College Football Playoff First Round
No. 11 Tulane (11-2) at No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1)
Saturday, December 20 | 3:30 p.m. ET | TNT and HBO Max
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium | Oxford, Mississippi
1st CFP appearance for Tulane

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
UTSA (6-6) vs. FIU (7-5)
Friday, December 26 | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN
Gerald J. Ford Stadium | Dallas
7th bowl appearance for UTSA

Go Bowling Military Bowl
East Carolina (8-4) vs. Pitt (8-4)
Saturday, December 27 | 11 a.m. ET | ESPN
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium | Annapolis
23rd bowl appearance for East Carolina

Wasabi Fenway Bowl
Army (6-5) vs. UConn (9-3)
Saturday, December 27 | 2:15 p.m. ET | ESPN
Fenway Park | Boston
12th bowl appearance for Army

Isleta New Mexico Bowl
North Texas (11-2) vs. San Diego State (9-3)
Saturday, December 27 | 5:45 p.m. ET | ESPN
University Stadium | Albuquerque, New Mexico
16th bowl appearance for North Texas

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Rice (5-7) vs. Texas State (6-6)
Friday, January 2, 2026 | 1 p.m. ET | ESPN
Amon G. Carter Stadium | Fort Worth, Texas
15th bowl appearance for Rice

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Navy (9-2) vs. Cincinnati (7-5)
Friday, January 2, 2026 | 4:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium | Memphis, Tennessee
26th bowl appearance for Navy

An American Conference release contributed to this article.