Boise State’s first College Football Playoff ranking came in at No. 25, which on the surface looks like a long shot for a national title run. But the 12-team format has a built-in wrinkle that gives the Broncos a real path into the bracket anyway.
If the field were set today based on the current rankings, Boise State would be in line for the spot reserved for the highest-ranked eligible conference champion outside the major conferences. That means the Broncos could make the playoff while a team ranked well ahead of them, like Ohio State at No. 12, could be left out.
That’s the kind of twist the new playoff setup creates. The rankings and the actual bracket are not the same thing.
The 12-team format makes that distinction matter. The College Football Playoff now includes automatic bids for the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus seven at-large selections. That setup keeps conference titles in play even when the committee slots some at-large teams higher in the rankings.
Boise State is the highest-ranked team currently positioned to benefit from the fifth conference-champion berth. The Broncos are 7-1, and their No. 25 placement in the opening rankings gives them a clear, if not guaranteed, route to the postseason.
Of course, the path still has work attached to it. Boise State has to keep winning and also secure the conference championship result it needs. But the ranking at least puts the Broncos in the conversation in a meaningful way.
Ohio State’s situation is different. The Buckeyes are 6-2 and sitting at No. 12, which would normally put them right on the playoff bubble. But with automatic qualification in the mix, the number of at-large spots can shrink fast.
That leaves Ohio State needing to keep building its résumé instead of banking on the final opening. Notre Dame at No. 11 and several other two-loss teams are in a similar spot, with every remaining game carrying real weight.
And this is only the starting point. The first rankings are just an early look, not the final picture. Conference championship results, head-to-head outcomes and the usual late-season chaos will all reshape things before December.
Boise State could rise, slide, or lose that projected automatic spot altogether. But for now, the Broncos are a reminder that in this playoff system, ranking higher on paper does not always mean getting the better postseason position.
For Ohio State and the other teams hovering near the cutoff, that makes every week from here on out matter just a little more.
In Other News...
Ohio States CFP Ranking Just Reignited A Frustrating Committee Debate
The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2026 immediately stirred up the same old arguments, with Miami opening at No. 1 and Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama filling out the top five. For Ohio State fans watching the board, the early reveal was a reminder that the committee is once again leaning into a rsum-versus-results debate that never seems to go away, especially when teams with head-to-head advantages are separated or an unbeaten team like UCLA gets pushed behind squads with losses.
Utahs No. 3 spot drew plenty of attention, too, since the Utes have only one ranked win, and committee chair Hunter Yurachek spent part of the explanation cycle defending how the group compares teams across conferences and record profiles. For a Buckeyes audience, the bigger issue is familiar: if the opening rankings already feel inconsistent, the next few weeks are likely to bring even more scrutiny to every movement, every comparison and every decision the committee makes. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Still Has Two Big Lineup Questions Before Oregon
Ohio State came out of its trip to USC with two injury concerns hanging over the week ahead, and both sit in spots that matter a lot for what comes next. Defensive tackle Eddrick Houston and left tackle Ian Moore were hurt in the game, and Ryan Days latest update at least offered some clarity on one front, with Houston expected back soon as the Buckeyes turn their attention to Oregon.
Moore is the bigger unknown, and his status still depends on how he progresses in the days leading up to the matchup. For a team already working through the usual midseason grind, the left tackle spot is one of the most important places to have uncertainty, especially with Oregon on deck and Day continuing to balance injury management, staff decisions, and game prep all at once. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Has A Legit CFP Ranking Complaint After First Bracket
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season immediately stirred the usual arguments, with Alabama landing in the top five and Notre Dame showing up lower than in the AP poll. The committees opening bracket also reopened the familiar debate over how much weight should be given to strength of schedule, especially when the rankings seem to diverge from what voters and fans have already been seeing all fall.
For Ohio State, though, the bigger issue was more specific. Committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said the Buckeyes head-to-head win over Indiana was not part of the discussion when the rankings were set, a detail that is hard to ignore for a team trying to measure itself against the rest of the playoff field. In a race where every comparison matters, leaving out a direct result is the kind of thing that can leave a program wondering what exactly the committee values most. [Read more 🡒]