College Football Playoff 2026-27
Your College Football Playoff Pool, on Autopilot
Twelve teams, eleven games, zero spreadsheets. Set up your pool in minutes and let the app keep score through the National Championship.
Trusted by 30,600+ players across 5,800+ pools
Sound Familiar?
A group chat argument on Selection Day and a spreadsheet nobody trusts by New Year's
The field is not announced until Selection Day, so there is nothing to set up in advance. Then you are building the bracket and chasing everyone for picks before the first kickoff twelve days later.
Four teams get first-round byes, so the bracket is lopsided and half your group misreads who plays whom.
The playoff runs from mid-December into late January, straight through the holidays, which is exactly when a manual spreadsheet stops getting updated.
How It Works
Up and Running in Minutes
Create Your Pool
Name your pool, set point values per round, and share an invite link.
Make Your Picks
CFP Quarterfinal
20 pts / Pick
Everyone picks every game from the first round through the National Championship. Picks lock at kickoff.
Watch the Playoff
Results and standings update automatically after each game. Nobody has to keep score over the holidays.
Loved by Pool Commissioners
Real feedback from real users on Reddit.
“Cool, our group is going to give your app a try this year. Logged into RunYourPool for the first time in a while and can't understand what they've become lol. Tough to navigate now.”
My family and I are very grateful for this app! It's so user-friendly. Thank you for making this!!
I appreciate all the work you've put into this so far. It's shockingly hard to find a good playoff pick'em…
Just wanted to say my group has really enjoyed the site thus far. Will keep thinking of improvements. Another obvious use would be March Madness.
I recommend it for a straightforward and easy to use March madness style bracket challenge! Great job!
Thank you for doing this! Doing a fun money challenge with the boys! Gotta get that fantasy money back somehow hahaha
Thanks for sharing! Was just looking for something to setup a playoff bracket with friends.
Guide
How College Football Playoff Bracket Pools Work
The 12-Team Playoff Format
Twelve teams make the field. The top four seeds receive first-round byes, and seeds 5 through 12 play first-round games hosted on campus. The quarterfinals and semifinals are played at the CFP bowls, and the National Championship is played at a neutral site.
What Is a College Football Playoff Pool?
Everyone picks the winner of every game before the first round kicks off and earns points for each correct pick. The commissioner sets the point value per round, so calling the champion can be worth far more than a first-round game.
Why the Byes Matter
The four bye teams enter at the quarterfinals with a month between games, while their opponents arrive having just played a first-round game on a campus site. Deciding how much that rest is worth, and where the upsets land, is where pools are won.
Setting Up Before Selection Day
You can create the pool and invite everyone weeks before the field is announced. The bracket fills in with the real seeds once the committee releases them, and picks stay open until the first game kicks off.
Running a Pool Through the Holidays
The playoff spans mid-December to late January, which is the hardest stretch of the year to maintain anything by hand. Automatic scoring means the standings are still correct when everyone comes back from the break.
Features
Your Pool, on Autopilot
The Full 12-Team Bracket
First round, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the National Championship, with the top four seeds on byes exactly like the real bracket.
Real Seed Numbers
Teams show the seed everyone argues about, 1 through 12, not a renumbered half of the bracket.
Custom Scoring Per Round
Weight the National Championship heavily, or reward first-round upset calls. You set the points.
Live Standings
Scores update as games finish, so the leaderboard is right before the confetti settles.
Full Bracket or Round by Round
Fill the whole bracket on Selection Day, or pick each round as it is set. Your pool, your rules.
Built by a Commissioner, for Commissioners
I run a playoff pool with my family. Everyone used to email me their picks and I'd enter them into a spreadsheet. Every year it was the same story: chasing people for their picks, updating scores after every game, and manually fixing brackets when things went wrong.
So I built Playoff Pick'Ems to be the tool I wished existed. Just a simple way to run a bracket pool with the people you care about.
Simple, Transparent Pricing
Start free, upgrade when you need more. No hidden fees.
Free
Perfect for small groups.
- 1 pool
- Up to 10 members
- 1 entry per player
- Custom scoring
Tournament Pass
Run pools of any size for one tournament.
- Unlimited members
- Multiple entries per player
- Unlimited pools
- Manual entries
- Custom scoring
One-time payment. Covers one tournament for one season.
Buy Tournament PassLifetime All-Access
Every tournament. Every future release.
- Everything in Tournament Pass
- Access to all current tournaments
- Future tournaments included
- Pay once, use forever
Best value for commissioners running multiple tournaments.
Buy LifetimeLock in today's price.
Tournament Pass covers one tournament. Lifetime All-Access includes every current and future tournament.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions?
Your College Football Playoff Pool, simplified.
Running a pool is fun, but managing it can be a headache. Skip the tedious stuff and just enjoy the playoffs with your friends.