The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2026 are about to put the season’s chaos on display.
A year that began with teams like Oregon, Texas A&M and Michigan drawing the preseason spotlight has already taken a few sharp turns, and Tuesday night’s committee reveal will offer the first real snapshot of where things stand. It’s a reminder that college football rarely stays in the lane people draw for it in August.
The committee will unveil its Top 25 and, with it, the first projected 12-team bracket of the season. Miami, Georgia and Notre Dame are the names expected to sit near the top of the board, but the picture gets messy quickly from there. Ohio State, Texas, Alabama and others already carry two losses, which means the committee has plenty of resumes to sort through as Week 10 approaches.
Only 12 teams will come away feeling good about where they land in the initial rankings, and the rest will have work to do.
According to The Sporting News’ first projection for Week 10, Bill Bender has Miami at No. 1 at 8-0, followed by Georgia at No. 2 at 7-1. UCLA checks in at No. 3 at 8-0, with Utah right behind at No. 4, also unbeaten at 8-0. Notre Dame lands at No. 5 at 7-1.
The rest of the projected field has Indiana at No. 6 at 8-1, Kentucky at No. 7 at 7-1, LSU at No. 8 at 6-2, Ohio State at No. 9 at 6-2, BYU at No. 10 at 7-1, Texas at No. 11 at 6-2 and Boise State at No. 12 at 7-1.
The 2026 playoff still uses a 12-team format, but the seeding rules have changed. Automatic bids now go to the four Power Four conference champions - ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC - plus the highest-ranked team from the remaining FBS conferences.
That is a shift from the previous setup, when the five highest-ranked conference champions earned automatic spots regardless of league. Notre Dame can also get an automatic bid if it finishes in the top 12.
The other seven places are at-large bids, filled by the best teams available in the rankings.
Seeding works the same way at the top: the four highest-ranked teams, whether they are conference champions or not, receive the top four seeds and first-round byes. The other eight teams open in the first round, with No. 12 at No.
5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No.
- In the quarterfinals, the No. 1 team plays the winner of No. 8 versus No.
9, No. 2 faces the No. 7/10 winner, No. 3 gets the No. 6/11 winner and No. 4 meets the No. 5/12 winner.
The postseason schedule is already set: the Fiesta Bowl hosts a quarterfinal on Dec. 30, while the Cotton, Rose and Peach Bowls hold quarterfinal games on Jan. 1.
The Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl are the semifinal sites on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15, respectively, and the national championship is set for Jan. 25.
Starting Tuesday night, ESPN will carry a weekly CFP ranking reveal show, with the time changing from week to week.
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