# CFP Ladder Pool — Rank the College Football Playoff Field > How a College Football Playoff ladder pool works: rank all 12 CFP teams from 12 to 1, and each team earns you its rank value for every playoff game it wins. Source: https://piksheet.com/pools/cfp_ladder Last updated: 2026-10-21 **CFP Ladder:** Rank all 12 playoff teams. Every game they win pays their rank. Rank the 12 College Football Playoff teams from 12 down to 1 before the first round. Each team earns you its rank value for every game it wins. Sport: [College Football](https://piksheet.com/college-football) ## How it works 1. Between Selection Sunday, December 6, and the first-round kickoff on December 18, rank all 12 playoff teams from 12 (your strongest) down to 1, using each number once. 2. Every game a team wins earns you its rank value: a team ranked 10 that wins two games is worth 20. 3. A team that plays in the first round and wins the national championship wins four games — ranked 12, that's 48 points. 4. Bye credit (off by default): when on, the top four seeds count their first-round bye as a game won. When off, a top-four seed can win three games at most. 5. Round multiplier (off by default): the commissioner can make any round's wins count ×2 up to ×10, such as the title game at ×2. 6. Ties go to the closest prediction of total points in the national championship (on by default). Ladders stay hidden until the first-round kickoff, and the standings update as each game goes final. ## 2025–26 playoff example (bye credit off) 1. 12 on IU, the 1 seed, which won the Rose Bowl, the Peach Bowl and the title game → 3 × 12 = 36 (48 with bye credit on) 2. 11 on OSU, the 2 seed, which lost its quarterfinal → 0 (11 with bye credit on) 3. 10 on ORE, the 5 seed, which won its first-round game and the Orange Bowl, then lost its semifinal → 2 × 10 = 20 4. 3 on MIA, the 10 seed, which won three games, then lost the title game → 3 × 3 = 9 5. Those four teams: 65 points. Your other eight teams add their own wins. ## How to win - Your 12 is the biggest lever. Put it on the team you think goes deepest, not the one you like most. - With bye credit off, a top-four seed can win three games at most, while a first-round team can win four. A strong 5 or 6 seed can be worth more at the top of your ladder than a 1 seed. - Teams on the same side of the bracket can't both reach the title game. Spreading your top values across both halves (seeds 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 against 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11) keeps one upset from sinking them together. - The bottom of the ladder still counts: a 3 on a 10 seed that reaches the title game adds 9 points. Don't rank the last few teams at random. ## What the commissioner controls Bye credit, the round multiplier and the tiebreaker are editable until the first-round kickoff on December 18, when ladders, new entries and settings all lock for the playoff. - Bye credit: off (default) or on — the top four seeds' first-round bye counts as a game won - Round multiplier: ×1 to ×10 per round (default ×1, off) - Tiebreaker: total points in the national championship (default) or off - Entry fee (optional — you collect, we don't touch it) - Max entries per member ## Frequently asked questions ### How is a CFP ladder pool scored? You rank all 12 College Football Playoff teams from 12 down to 1. Every game a team wins earns you its rank value, so a team ranked 12 that wins three games scores 36. Your total is the sum across all 12 teams, and the highest total wins. ### What is the bye credit? An optional rule, off by default. With it on, the top four seeds count their first-round bye as one game won, so a top seed can earn its value four times, like a team that plays in the first round. With it off, only games actually played count. ### How is a ladder different from a CFP bracket? A bracket asks you to call each of the 11 games; a ladder asks one question — how far will each team go? — and answers it with a single ranking. Any ranking is a valid ladder. ### When do CFP ladder picks lock? At the first first-round kickoff, December 18. Pools can be created before Selection Sunday, and picks open once the 12 teams are set on December 6. Until the first kickoff you can reorder your ladder as often as you like; after it, ladders, new entries and settings are locked and everyone's ladder becomes visible. ## Related - [CFP Ladder walkthrough](https://piksheet.com/help/pool-types/cfp_ladder) - [Compare every pool format](https://piksheet.com/pools/compare) - [Pricing](https://piksheet.com/pricing) --- Most pages on https://piksheet.com have a markdown version: add .md to the URL (the home page is https://piksheet.com/index.md) or request the page with `Accept: text/markdown`. https://piksheet.com/llms.txt lists every page and links each markdown version.