Kentucky’s place in the College Football Playoff race is only part of the equation now. The Wildcats can keep stacking wins and improve their case, but the final calls on seeding, at-large spots, and who gets pushed out will come from the 13 people in charge of the bracket.
That group starts speaking publicly on Tuesday, when the first CFP top-25 ranking of the season is released on ESPN. From there, the weekly rankings will give a clearer picture of where Kentucky stands in the committee’s eyes.
The committee is made up of six sitting athletic directors, four former head coaches, two former players, and one former media member. Here’s the group shaping the 2026 playoff field.
Hunter Yurachek, Arkansas’s athletic director, is the committee chair. The 58-year-old has spent a decade at Arkansas and was asked to step into the lead role after Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades took a leave of absence and later resigned from his job in Waco. Yurachek will serve as the face of the committee and will join Rece Davis each week on the rankings show to walk through the process and the committee’s decisions.
Troy Dannen of Nebraska is also on the panel. The 60-year-old has been an athletic director since 2008, with stops at Northern Iowa, Tulane, Washington, and Nebraska. He hired Willie Fritz at Tulane and Jedd Fisch at Washington, and he is the lone current Big Ten employee on the committee.
Doug Gillin, the athletic director at Appalachian State, is in his first year on the committee. He has led the Boone athletic department since 2015 and previously worked at Missouri and Syracuse. During his time in charge, he has hired Eli Drinkwitz, Shawn Clark, and Dowell Loggains.
Mark Harlan represents Utah. The Arizona graduate has been leading Utes athletics since 2018 and was in that role when Utah moved from the Pac-12 to the Big 12. He will have to leave the room when Utah comes up for discussion and voting.
Chris Massaro of Middle Tennessee is back for a second season on the CFP committee. He has served as the athletic director in Murfreesboro since 2005.
Carla Williams, Virginia’s athletic director, rounds out the sitting AD group. A former Georgia basketball player, she began her administration career at Vanderbilt in 2000, returned to Athens in 2004 as an associate athletic director, and later became deputy athletic director before leaving for Virginia in 2017. While in Charlottesville, she has made successful hires such as Tony Elliott and Ryan Odom.
The former head coaches on the committee bring plenty of their own baggage and experience. Mark Dantonio, who coached Cincinnati and Michigan State, spent 13 seasons in East Lansing and guided the Spartans to the College Football Playoff in 2015. He also won three Big Ten titles there.
Gus Malzahn is in his first year of retirement after stepping away following a year calling plays for Mike Norvell at Florida State in 2025. The former Arkansas State, Auburn, and UCF head coach is now spending part of that time with the committee.
Mike Riley, who coached Oregon State and Nebraska, has also been around plenty of football circles lately, including the Alliance of American Football, the XFL, and the USFL. Jeff Tedford, who led Cal to a Pac-12 title in 2006 and Fresno State to two Mountain West titles, is on the committee as well after retiring because of health issues.
The two former players are Randall McDaniel and Wesley Walls. McDaniel, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Arizona State offensive lineman, gives the committee one of its most decorated football résumés. Walls, a former Ole Miss tight end, was a second round pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, earned All-American honors in the SEC, and later became a multi-time All-Pro with the Carolina Panthers.
In Other News...
Former Kentucky Players Are Making Some Departures Look A Lot Different
Kentuckys roster turnover has become easier to judge with a little distance, and the 2026 season is offering a revealing look at what some of those departures have meant elsewhere. The list of 38 former Wildcats now playing for other FBS programs shows just how widely the talent has scattered, with players turning up at new schools at every position and carving out roles that range from depth pieces to steady contributors.
For Kentucky, the interesting part is not just where those players landed, but how much they are playing once they got there. The article tracks their current schools, positions and production, and the range of impact makes the exodus look different depending on the name involved. Some departures have barely registered, while others have become much more noticeable reminders that roster management does not stop when a player leaves Lexington. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees Biggest Question Before Kentucky Still Has No Clear Answer
Tennessee heads into its bye week with the same quarterback uncertainty that has hovered over much of the season. Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre have both gotten starts and neither has settled the job, with the offense sputtering at times and the turnovers piling up enough to keep the Vols near the bottom of the SEC in several key passing categories.
Josh Heupel said both quarterbacks are practicing well, but he stopped short of signaling any immediate change, leaving the competition open as Kentucky approaches. For Tennessee, the off week is a chance to sort through the options and try to find some stability before a game that could go a long way toward defining the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
What An Opposing Coach Already Sees In This Kentucky Team
Johnny Dawkins got a close look at Kentucky in an exhibition setting, and the former Duke star and current Central Florida coach came away impressed. He said the Wildcats already have the kind of talent, coaching and chemistry that can make them a much better team as the season unfolds, and he pointed to their length and versatility as traits that stand out right away.
For Kentucky, that kind of early read from an opposing coach matters because it suggests the ceiling is still ahead of them. Exhibition games only tell part of the story, but Dawkins view was clear enough: this group has the pieces to grow into something more dangerous once the season gets rolling, even if the best version of the Wildcats is still to come. [Read more 🡒]