If the SEC has its way, this playoff picture could get crowded fast.
A quarter of the way through the 2026 season, the conference is sitting in position to put five teams - maybe even more - into the College Football Playoff field. That would follow last year’s record-setting run, when Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Texas A&M all made it in.
The expectation entering this season was that the move to a nine-game league schedule would trim that number. Instead, the SEC is still looming large, with Texas, Alabama and Georgia all sitting near the top of the national playoff race, while Florida, Ole Miss and LSU remain very much alive.
Mississippi State and Tennessee have also pushed themselves into the conversation.
The new strength-of-conference metric the CFP Selection Committee is using should only help the league when December arrives. Six SEC teams would still be a long shot, but four or five looks very realistic.
At the top of the bracket, Texas holds No. 1 at 4-0 and would be the SEC champion in this projection. The Longhorns still own the best resume in the country thanks to wins over Ohio State and Tennessee, even if the week-to-week feel around the team has been shaky.
Arch Manning has not been as sharp lately, the penalties have been ugly in big moments, and the off-field energy has not been great. Still, the record is undefeated, and that keeps Texas in the top spot.
Ohio State follows at No. 2, also projected as a conference champion at 3-1. The Buckeyes have one of the most talented rosters in the country, and the loss to Texas is easy enough to explain because of the late collapse.
What matters now is surviving what comes next. Iowa, Indiana, USC, Oregon and Michigan are all still on the schedule, and Ohio State can absorb one more loss.
More than that, and the path gets messy.
Miami is No. 3 at 4-0 and projected as the ACC champion. The Hurricanes have been overwhelming so far.
Darian Mensah has been operating at a wild pace, with 14 touchdowns and just 12 incompletions through four games, making him the only quarterback in the last 30 years to hit that mark. The next two games will be a better test, with trips to Clemson and Florida State coming up.
Georgia sits at No. 4 and is the highest-ranked SEC team outside of Texas. The Bulldogs have not faced the toughest slate yet, but they have been ruthless in the games they’ve played.
The win over Oklahoma, and what they did to John Mateer, was the kind of statement that makes the rest of the conference pay attention. Georgia was close to jumping Texas here, but the Longhorns’ resume still has the edge.
Notre Dame comes in at No. 5 after another week of handling lesser competition. There is only so much to take from beating up on weak opponents, and that makes the upcoming Oct. 17 trip to BYU feel like the first real checkpoint.
Indiana lands at No. 6 after escaping Northwestern, and the Hoosiers have not looked quite as sharp as the team that rolled through the Big Ten a season ago on the way to an undefeated title run. Curt Cignetti still gets the benefit of the doubt, but the next real measuring stick is Oct. 17 against Ohio State.
Alabama checks in at No. 7, and the Crimson Tide keep looking better for sticking with Keelon Russell instead of chasing a transfer quarterback. Alabama rolled past South Carolina and now heads into a tricky road game at Mississippi State. That matchup also brings a quarterback duel worth watching, with Russell against Kamario Taylor.
Florida is one of the biggest risers, jumping into the bracket at No. 8 after a convincing 52-28 road win over Ole Miss. Jon Sumrall’s influence has been obvious in a short time, and the Gators have made a loud early-season statement. There’s not much time to enjoy it, though, with Missouri next.
Texas Tech lands at No. 9 as the projected Big 12 champion. The Red Raiders have been a little shaky on offense, and it would not be crazy to prefer BYU here, but Texas Tech still owns the conference’s best win over Houston and remains the pick until it slips.
Iowa crashes the field at No. 10 after a stunning last-second win over Michigan. If the Hawkeyes beat Ohio State this weekend, they’d have a real case to make the playoff.
Even with a loss, an 11-1 finish is still on the table, and the rest of the schedule is manageable. The resume might not be loaded with marquee wins, but an 11-1 Big Ten team is going to be hard for the committee to ignore.
Ole Miss falls to No. 11 after that loss at Florida, though the Rebels still have quality wins over LSU and Louisville. They’ve got chances to rebuild the résumé too, with Texas on Oct. 24 and Georgia on Nov. 7 still ahead.
Boise State rounds out the field at No. 12 as the projected Group of Six automatic qualifier. The Broncos handled Western Michigan on the road and remain the favorite for that spot.
Just outside the bracket are LSU, BYU, Oregon, Utah and Mississippi State.
That setup would produce these first-round matchups: Boise State at Notre Dame, Ole Miss at Indiana, Iowa at Alabama, and Texas Tech at Florida.
The quarterfinal picture would then send Texas against the Florida-Texas Tech winner, Ohio State against the Alabama-Iowa winner, Miami against the Indiana-Ole Miss winner, and Georgia against the Notre Dame-Boise State winner.
The semifinal matchups would be played Jan. 14 in Miami and Jan. 15 in New Orleans.
In Other News...
Alabama Just Got A Serious Warning Before Mississippi State
Mississippi State comes into Saturdays matchup with Alabama carrying real momentum, and much of it has flowed through Kamario Taylor. The Bulldogs are 4-0 and ranked No. 16 in the AP poll, with Taylor piling up 1,377 total yards and 15 touchdowns in the early going while steering a fast-paced offense that has made people around the league take notice. Even before kickoff, the Tide know this is not the kind of early SEC test you can treat like a routine tune-up.
Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack added to that sense of urgency by calling Taylor possibly the best quarterback his defense has seen in the last three years. Wommack pointed to Taylors deep ball, his RPO decision-making and the way he leads a quick, athletic receiving group, all of which help explain why Mississippi State has looked so sharp. With a nationally televised 11 a.m. CT start looming, Alabama is staring at a fast start in Starkville and a quarterback who has already issued a loud warning. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Has Little Margin For Error In Starkville After One Warning Sign
Alabama came out of the South Carolina game with plenty to feel good about, but the film also left behind a few reminders that there is still work to do. The Tide looked sharp in stretches, yet the same concerns that have lingered at times this season showed up again in run defense and in the back end of the secondary, two areas that can get exposed quickly if a game gets loose.
Starkville does not figure to offer much room for a slow start. Mississippi State brings a physical running game and a quarterback in Kamario Taylor who can force defenses to stay honest, which means Alabama will need cleaner execution on both sides of the ball than it has shown in some recent moments. If the Tide want to leave with a win, the defense has to hold its ground and the offense has to turn efficient drives into points without giving the Bulldogs extra chances. [Read more 🡒]
DeBoer Just Put Alabamas Recruiting Pressure In Clear Focus
Kalen DeBoer used a recent look inside Alabamas recruiting operation to put the programs priorities in sharper focus, and it started with the role Courtney Morgan has carved out as the first general manager in school history. Morgan has become a central figure in coordinating the Tides recruiting work, setting weekly meetings that bring the recruiting staff and coaching assistants onto the same page as Alabama tries to keep its roster-building machine moving in step with the standards that come with the job.
The broader picture is one of transition and pressure, because Alabamas class rankings have fluctuated and the program has already leaned heavily on the transfer market, bringing in 20 transfers last offseason. Even with that approach, the plan is to put more emphasis on high school recruiting going forward, which makes the alignment DeBoer praised even more important as the Tide try to balance immediate help with the long-term pipeline that has always defined the programs edge. [Read more 🡒]