Miami (Fla.) tops first College Football Playoff rankings; Ohio State 12th
The gist
Miami (Fla.) is No. 1 in the first CFP rankings, with Ohio State No. 12.
Four more rankings come before the Dec. 6 final bracket.
How it unfolded
- Dec 18, 2025 -19, 2026First-round games are scheduled on campus.
- Nov 3, 2026The selection committee released its first top 25 of the season: Miami (Fla.) No. 1, then Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama. Notre Dame was No. 11 ('Last team in') and Ohio State No. 12 ('First team out').
- Nov 3, 2026In the bracket based on those rankings, first-round games were Boise State at Alabama, BYU at UCLA, Notre Dame at Kentucky and Ole Miss at Texas. The Big Ten placed six teams in the top 25, second to the SEC's 10.
Key terms
- College Football Playoff
- An annual single-elimination tournament determining the national champion of NCAA Division I FBS college football.
- conference champions
- One of the most prominent, elite athletic conferences in U.S. college football's top division.
- automatic bids
- A place in a tournament earned through prior competition results rather than by subjective selection.
Source: Wikipedia