Georgia is back on top of the College Football Playoff rankings, but the real shakeup came a few spots lower. Alabama’s win over LSU pushed the Tide up to No. 3, UCLA climbed to No. 4, and the bracket suddenly looks very different after the second rankings release of the 2026 season.
Under the current projection, Georgia, No. 2 Utah, Alabama and UCLA would earn the four byes.
That leaves the first-round host spots to No. 5 Notre Dame, No.
6 Texas, No. 7 Miami and No.
8 Tennessee.
Notre Dame made the biggest leap of the week. After entering last week as the No. 11 seed and the final at-large team, the Fighting Irish jumped to No. 5 after beating then-No.
1 Miami in Week 10. That move would put them in line to host 12-seed Boise State, with a potential second-round matchup against No.
4 UCLA and, after that, No. 1 Georgia.
Indiana took the hardest hit. The reigning national champion didn’t play, but still slid five spots to No. 9, dropping from a first-round bye all the way to a position where it would not even host a playoff game.
The Hoosiers’ recent form has hurt them, and the losses piled up by teams they had beaten only made the fall worse. In this bracket, Indiana would open on the road against No.
8 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, with Georgia waiting in the next round.
The bubble picture is tighter below the field. No.
11 Kentucky is the last team in, while No. 12 Texas Tech and No.
13 Wake Forest are just outside. No.
14 Houston is also still in the mix, and No. 23 Arizona and No.
25 Oklahoma State can’t likely crash the field, but they can still help their conference’s overall resume.
That conference is the Big 12, which looked much better in this release after taking a hit in the first rankings. Even with a loss to Utah, No.
10 BYU stayed in the field thanks to its win over highly ranked Notre Dame. Texas Tech remains first out, giving the league another team close to the cut line.
For now, the Big 12 is in a far better spot than it was before. It still hasn’t landed an at-large team in the 12-team playoff era, the only Power Four league without one.
In Other News...
Alabama May Be Giving Austin Mack A Huge Chance At Vanderbilt
Keelon Russells ankle injury has opened the door for Austin Mack, and Alabama appears willing to let the former five-star recruit take some meaningful snaps against Vanderbilt. With Russell banged up, head coach Kalen DeBoer said Mack could see the field in an effort to protect the starter for the games ahead, giving the Crimson Tide a chance to see what they have in a quarterback who has spent most of his time waiting behind the scenes.
For Mack, the timing matters. He has had limited playing time since arriving in Tuscaloosa, but this could be the kind of opportunity that changes the conversation around his future, especially with a possible transfer in the background. Vanderbilt may not be the biggest stage on Alabamas schedule, but it could be a valuable one for a quarterback still trying to show he can handle real game action. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas Defensive Front Just Got A Boost Fans Have Been Waiting For
Devan Thompkins gave Alabama a timely jolt in the win at LSU, finishing with two sacks and snapping a drought that had stretched back to Week 3. It was the kind of interior push the Crimson Tide have been trying to rediscover, and it came in a game where the defense as a whole finally looked disruptive again, piling up four sacks for its best total since Week 5.
Terrance Greens return from injury helped make that happen. He made his presence felt with a sack of his own and steady work against the run, giving Alabamas defensive front a more complete look and drawing praise from the coaching staff for the way he changed the lines energy. For a unit that has been searching for consistency up front, Greens impact may have been just as important as the numbers beside Thompkins name. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Just Forced A Playoff Ranking Debate Fans Will Obsess Over
Alabamas win over LSU has done more than pad the rsum in November. It has reopened the kind of playoff-rankings debate that gets college football fans arguing all week, with analysts split on where the Crimson Tide should land when the next set of rankings comes out. Some see the victory as the kind of statement that can push Alabama as high as No. 3 or No. 4, while others think the committee could still leave the Tide closer to the middle of the top 10.
The messier part is what it means for Tennessee, because the comparison between the two teams is now impossible to ignore. Head-to-head results and strength of schedule both have a way of complicating the conversation, and Alabamas latest win only sharpened the question of how much weight the committee will give each factor. However it shakes out, this is the sort of ranking fight that could linger well beyond Tuesday night. [Read more 🡒]