The first College Football Playoff rankings arrive Tuesday, Nov. 3 next week, and with five weeks left until conference championship weekend, the shape of the 2026 field is starting to come into focus.
Here’s one early projection of what the 12-team bracket could look like when the season is finally sorted out:
- Miami (13-0), ACC Champ
- Ohio State (12-1), Big Ten Champ
- Georgia (12-1), SEC Champ
- Notre Dame (11-1), At-Large
- Indiana (11-1), At-Large
- Utah (12-1), Big 12 Champ
- Alabama (10-2), At-Large
- UCLA (12-1), At-Large
- Kentucky (11-2), At-Large
- Texas Tech (11-2), At-Large
- BYU (10-2), At-Large
- Boise State (12-1), Group of Six bid
A few of the heavyweights who looked like playoff locks before the season have stumbled badly. Oregon is already out of the hunt with three losses.
Ole Miss and Texas are still hanging around with two losses apiece, but this projection has both falling short. Ole Miss is expected to lose to Georgia next week, while Texas is projected to drop a game to LSU in a few weeks and miss out as well.
LSU was in that same preseason conversation, but the Tigers have also taken two losses and still have Alabama, Texas and Tennesse left on the schedule.
At the top, though, the bracket still has plenty of familiar power. Miami, Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alabama, Indiana and Texas Tech are all teams that entered the year with national-title expectations, and they’ve stayed in the picture while others have faded.
The rest of the field is where things get interesting. Utah has become the Big 12 front-runner after losing its longtime head coach.
Kentucky has emerged as one of the SEC’s biggest surprises and is one of just two teams in the league with only one loss. BYU and UCLA would both be first-time playoff teams under this projection, and neither was expected to be in the conversation at the start of the year.
Boise State rounds out the field as the Group of Six representative.
That’s the beauty of the 12-team format: the brands still have to earn it, but so do the upstarts. And with expansion to 24 teams looming, this could end up being the last 12-team playoff ever played. If that’s the case, this bracket would be a fitting one - loaded with bluebloods, plus a few unexpected names ready to crash the party.
In Other News...
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Even so, Bowens still has not been cleared for full contact or game action, which makes his status for the upcoming Florida game pretty straightforward. Georgia is expecting him to sit out again, but the important part is that he is back in motion and trending the right way, with a possible return later this season still in play. [Read more 🡒]
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One theory quickly gained traction: an upcoming concert by Grammy-nominated artist Noah Kahan in Athens. The imagery on Kahans tour website appears to line up with the post, and a countdown timer has only added to the buzz. For now, the official answer is still waiting at the end of that countdown, which is exactly the kind of mystery that gets a college town talking. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Faces A Florida Worry Fans Didn't Want This Week
Georgias week-to-week injury watch got a little busier heading into the Florida game, with the Bulldogs official report listing six players across different statuses. Safety KJ Bolden is questionable because of a lower right leg injury, and wide receiver Isiah Canion and running back Chauncey Bowens are also in that same category, leaving Georgia with a few spots on the depth chart worth monitoring as kickoff approaches.
The more concrete part of the report is the group ruled out, which includes safety Tyriq Green, outside linebacker Amaris Williams and wide receiver Thomas Blackshear. Florida has its own uncertainty at quarterback, with Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. both listed as questionable, adding another layer to a matchup that already carried plenty of intrigue on both sidelines. [Read more 🡒]