Week 1 didn’t exactly clear the fog around the 2026 College Football Playoff picture, but it did sharpen a few things. Notre Dame still sits at No.
1, Georgia and Ohio State remain in the thick of the race, and Miami and LSU made strong early statements. The biggest jolt, though, comes from the Group of Six slot, where Western Michigan crashes the field after a wild showing against Michigan.
That chaos-heavy opening weekend didn’t produce a ton of marquee matchups, but the few that mattered gave us enough to adjust the board. Ole Miss picked up the only top-25 win of the week, SMU survived a messy trip to Florida State, and Texas Tech didn’t do enough in its opener to move the needle much either way. With that in mind, here’s how the bracket looks heading into Week 2.
Notre Dame stays at No. 1 after handling Wisconsin 41-13 despite a shaky first half. The Irish leaned on defense early, including a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown, and eventually let the offense settle in.
The schedule stays soft for a while, with No. 15 BYU not coming until Oct.
Georgia remains No. 2 and the projected SEC champion after a 63-3 rout of Tennessee State. Kirby Smart used five quarterbacks in the game, and Gunner Stockton made the most of his snaps, completing 15 of 16 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns.
Miami moves up to No. 3 and is still projected to win the ACC after rolling past Stanford 45-6. Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney connected for 234 yards and three touchdowns, and Mensah’s five-touchdown debut only added to the buzz around a Hurricanes team that looks dangerous right away.
Ohio State drops to No. 4 but stays projected as the Big Ten champ after a 56-3 win over Ball State. Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith continued to look like a problem for defenses, combining for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Sayin now gets a far tougher test in Week 2 against Texas, but the early signs under first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith are encouraging.
Texas holds at No. 5 after a 59-7 win over Texas State, though the real measuring stick arrives this weekend against Ohio State. Arch Manning looked sharper than he did in last year’s loss to the Buckeyes, and Texas spent heavily this offseason to strengthen the offensive line and add more help in Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers. The answer on whether it all pays off comes Saturday night.
Ole Miss climbs to No. 6 after the Rebels outlasted Louisville 41-38 in the only top-25 game of the opening weekend. Trinidad Chambliss looked every bit like a Heisman Trophy contender in the second half, but the defense also raised concerns with busted coverages that turned into touchdowns. With LSU coming soon, that side of the ball matters.
Indiana stays at No. 7 after a 52-16 win over North Texas. Josh Hoover made a strong debut, throwing four touchdown passes, including one on his first throw. The run game, though, did very little, with BC transfer Turbo Richard leading the team with 58 yards.
Oregon sits at No. 8, unchanged from the preseason projection.
LSU jumps to No. 9 after the most convincing performance of the week, a 51-10 win over Clemson. The Tigers looked sharp on both sides of the ball, though the question remains whether LSU is that good or Clemson is that bad. Either way, the road trip to Ole Miss in Week 3 now looms large.
Texas Tech stays in the projected Big 12 title spot at No. 10 after a 33-10 win over Abilene Christian. There wasn’t much to learn from that one, and the bigger test comes Sept. 19 against Houston.
SMU enters the field at No. 11 after surviving a long power outage delay and four turnovers in a 27-24 win over Florida State. Rhett Lashlee has plenty to clean up, but the Mustangs may also benefit from an ACC that looks stronger than expected and could have a real case for more than one playoff team.
The new Group of Six entrant is Western Michigan at No. 12, despite a loss to Michigan. The Broncos were at the center of one of the weekend’s wildest finishes, and even if the official result doesn’t match the way this projection views it, Western Michigan gets the nod as the most impressive Group of Six team so far.
The first-round matchups would be Western Michigan at Texas, SMU at Ole Miss, Texas Tech at Indiana, and LSU at Oregon. In the quarterfinals, Notre Dame would meet the LSU-Oregon winner, Georgia would get the Texas Tech-Indiana winner, Miami would face the SMU-Ole Miss winner, and Ohio State would draw the Western Michigan-Texas winner.
The semifinal sites are set for Miami on Jan. 14 and New Orleans on Jan. 15, with the championship game scheduled for Jan. 25 in Las Vegas.
In Other News...
Ohio States Defense Faces A Texas Threat Beyond Arch Manning
Even with Arch Manning drawing the loudest attention, Ohio States opening-week trip to Texas looks like a test of the whole Longhorns offense. Ryan Wingo gives Texas a vertical threat on the outside after a strong start to the season and a productive year ago, while Cam Coleman brings the kind of size and physicality that can stress a secondary at every level. For a Buckeyes defense trying to set the tone early, the challenge is not just tracking the quarterback, but making sure the receivers do not turn the game into a track meet.
Trevor Goosby adds another layer to the matchup up front, because his presence at left tackle helps determine how comfortable Texas can be in protecting its offense and opening up the passing game. His return from the knee issue in fall camp gives the Longhorns a more complete look, and it leaves Ohio State with a clear early-season measuring stick on both edges of the line. If the Buckeyes are going to leave this one with a statement, they will have to account for more than the headline name under center. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Heads To Texas With One Early Concern Still Lingering
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There is still one practical concern hanging over that trip, though, and it has less to do with talent than with conditions. With severe heat expected in Austin, Ohio State may have to go two deep to manage the workload, and the opener also left a few reminders of what still needs cleaning up, from shaky first-half run blocking to a handful of dropped passes from Chris Henry Jr. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremiah Smith Buzz Just Raised A Bigger Ohio State Question
Jeremiah Smiths rise has been fast enough to force bigger conversations around Ohio State, and the latest one comes from a new NFL mock draft that already has the Buckeyes wideout at the very top of the board. The projection underscores just how much pro buzz Smith has generated, with his name now circulating well beyond the usual early-career hype that follows a standout college receiver.
The more interesting part for Ohio State is what all of that means down the road, because Smith may have to weigh the possibility of entering the draft after his junior season. Miami is one of the teams being linked to that kind of scenario, and the fit would make some sense for a franchise that has been reshuffling its offensive identity and looking for more high-end weaponry. For the Buckeyes, it is another reminder that Smiths ceiling is already creating questions that normally do not arrive this early. [Read more 🡒]