After Week 9, ESPN’s 12 experts were largely in sync on how the College Football Playoff picture is shaping up, and Miami sits alone at the top of the board. The Hurricanes landed the No. 1 seed on every single ballot after their latest escape, a Saturday night win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Georgia was the other unanimous lock. The Bulldogs showed up on all 12 lists after rolling past Florida in Atlanta, and they’re now No. 2 in the latest AP Poll heading into a Week 10 matchup at No.
12 Ole Miss. The Rebels made the cut on 7 of the 12 expert projections.
The SEC had six teams represented across the 12 picks, with Kentucky standing out as the biggest surprise of the bunch. The Wildcats, riding a six-game winning streak coming out of a bye, appeared on every ballot. ESPN’s panel clearly believes Big Blue Nation is headed for a breakthrough run into the Playoff.
Texas also cracked the field in multiple projections, while Alabama drew 5 selections and LSU appeared on one. That makes Saturday’s Alabama-LSU meeting in Death Valley look like a major turning point, with the Crimson Tide and Tigers facing what could be a Playoff elimination game in early November.
Beyond the SEC, the experts spread their confidence around a handful of familiar names. UCLA, Utah, Notre Dame, Indiana, Wake Forest and Boise State all showed up repeatedly, while BYU, Ohio State, Texas Tech and UTSA each surfaced on at least one ballot.
Here’s how the full set of ESPN projections lined up after Week 9:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Kentucky 6.
Notre Dame 7. Wake Forest 8.
Indiana 9. Texas 10.
Ole Miss 11. Alabama 12.
Boise State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Miami 2.
Utah 3. UCLA 4.
Georgia 5. BYU 6.
Notre Dame 7. Indiana 8.
Kentucky 9. Wake Forest 10.
Alabama 11. Ohio State 12.
Boise State
Bill Connelly: 1. Miami 2.
UCLA 3. Utah 4.
Georgia 5. Notre Dame 6.
Indiana 7. Kentucky 8.
Wake Forest 9. Boise State 10.
BYU 11. Texas Tech 12.
Ole Miss
David Hale: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Kentucky 5. Notre Dame 6.
Utah 7. Indiana 8.
Wake Forest 9. Texas 10.
Ole Miss 11. Alabama 12.
UTSA
Eli Lederman: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Notre Dame 6.
BYU 7. Indiana 8.
Texas 9. Kentucky 10.
Boise State 11. Wake Forest 12.
Alabama
Max Olson: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. Indiana 4.
Notre Dame 5. Utah 6.
BYU 7. UCLA 8.
Kentucky 9. Texas 10.
Ohio State 11. Wake Forest 12.
Boise State
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Kentucky 5. Utah 6.
Notre Dame 7. Ole Miss 8.
Texas 9. Wake Forest 10.
Indiana 11. BYU 12.
Boise State
Alex Scarborough: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Kentucky 5. Notre Dame 6.
Indiana 7. Utah 8.
Texas 9. LSU 10.
BYU 11. Wake Forest 12.
Boise State
Mark Schlabach: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Kentucky 6.
Notre Dame 7. BYU 8.
Texas 9. Alabama 10.
Wake Forest 11. Indiana 12.
Boise State
Jake Trotter: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Notre Dame 6.
Kentucky 7. Indiana 8.
Ole Miss 9. Wake Forest 10.
BYU 11. Texas 12.
Boise State
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Kentucky 6.
Indiana 7. Notre Dame 8.
Wake Forest 9. BYU 10.
Texas 11. Ole Miss 12.
Boise State
In Other News...
Georgia Fans Face A Pricey Road Test For Ole Miss
Georgias trip to Oxford is shaping up as one of the more expensive road dates on the schedule, with the Bulldogs set to face Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. The game will air on ABC, and for fans hoping to make the trek, the early ticket market is already steep, with seats starting at $315 on StubHub, $330.40 on Ticketmaster and $336 on VividSeats.
It will be Georgias second night game of the season and the second-to-last road game on the schedule, which only adds to the appeal for traveling fans looking for a marquee SEC atmosphere. For those weighing the cost, though, this one is already asking for a premium before the Bulldogs even take the field in Oxford. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Got A National Title Endorsement Fans Will Notice
A national title conversation around college football quarterbacks always gets attention, and Danny Kanell added another layer to it by naming five teams he believes have signal-callers good enough to win it all. Georgia made the list, as did Miami, USC, Ole Miss and Notre Dame, with Kanell pointing to the kind of quarterback play that can carry a team through the biggest games. For the Bulldogs, it is another reminder that the margin at the top of the sport is often defined by who can handle the pressure under center when the stakes rise.
The Ole Miss mention is the one that will likely stick with fans around the SEC, especially with Kanell highlighting both Gunner Stockton and Trinidad Chambliss as part of the Rebels' quarterback picture. He also singled out Darian Mensah at Miami, CJ Carr at Notre Dame and Jayden Maiava at USC, tying the discussion to performances and the matchups ahead. For Georgia, the takeaway is less about the praise itself and more about the company it keeps, because any list built around national title quarterbacks is really a snapshot of where the sport thinks the real contenders are headed. [Read more 🡒]
Mike White Is Already Worried About One Georgia Weakness
Georgias preseason tune-up slate gave Mike White a decent early look at where his team stands heading into the 2026-27 season, and the results were mixed enough to leave a clear priority on the board. The Bulldogs beat Georgia State and Charlotte in exhibition play, then fell narrowly to Clemson, a game that showed some encouraging signs but also reinforced a familiar issue from last season.
Defensive rebounding is already the concern White keeps circling back to as Georgia prepares for its opener against N.C. Central. The staff is counting on help from the incoming transfers and freshmen to tighten that area, and the next stretch of practice will be about turning that emphasis into something more reliable once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]