Andrea Adelson
Nov. 18, 2025, 08:52 PM ET
Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M remained the top three in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday. Alabama fell six spots to No. 10 after its loss to Oklahoma. Georgia, which Alabama beat in September, rose to No. 4. Texas Tech moved to No. 5, Ole Miss to No. 6, Oregon to No. 7 and Oklahoma to No. 8 after the Sooners’ 23-21 win in Tuscaloosa.
The full top 15: 1) Ohio State, 2) Indiana, 3) Texas A&M, 4) Georgia, 5) Texas Tech, 6) Ole Miss, 7) Oregon, 8) Oklahoma, 9) Notre Dame, 10) Alabama, 11) BYU, 12) Utah, 13) Miami, 14) Vanderbilt, 15) USC.
Miami climbed two spots to No. 13 after a 41-7 win over NC State but remains four spots behind Notre Dame despite beating the Irish 27-24 to open the season — a point of contention in the ACC. Miami coach Mario Cristobal said this week, “The No. 1 criteria is always head-to-head. It’s why we play the game, right? That always has been and always will be the No. 1 factor.”
Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek, the new selection committee chair, said the committee “really haven’t compared those teams” yet but added that head-to-head would be “a significant data point” if Miami and Notre Dame end up in comparable tiers. Notre Dame’s losses were close defeats to ranked teams (Miami and Texas A&M); Miami’s losses were to unranked Louisville and SMU.
Texas took a major hit, dropping seven spots to No. 17 after a 35-10 loss to Georgia moved the Longhorns to 7-3 and behind No. 16 Georgia Tech. Michigan is No. 18, Virginia No. 19 and Tennessee moved up to No. 20. Rounding out the top 25 are Illinois, Missouri, Houston, Tulane and Arizona State.
Under this year’s format, the five highest-ranked conference champions will make the 12-team field, and the committee is using straight seeding: the top four teams in the final ranking, regardless of conference, will receive first-round byes. If the playoffs were held today, first-round matchups would be: Tulane at Texas Tech; Miami at Ole Miss; Alabama at Oregon; Notre Dame at Oklahoma.
ACC scenarios are still complex. If Georgia Tech beats Pitt this weekend and Virginia beats Virginia Tech next week, those two would play for the ACC title and the conference’s automatic berth as one of the five highest-ranked champions. For Miami to reach the ACC title game, the Hurricanes must win out, have Virginia, Georgia Tech and SMU lose their remaining games, and have Duke lose one of its final two; ESPN FPI currently gives Georgia Tech a 35.3% chance to win the ACC and Virginia a 32.7% chance.
Conference representation in the rankings: SEC leads with nine teams, the Big Ten has six, the Big 12 has five (including Houston and Arizona State), and the ACC has three after Pitt fell out following its loss to Notre Dame. Tulane replaced USF as the top-ranked Group of 5 representative.
Alabama, despite slipping to No. 10, still has strong odds to reach the SEC championship game — which would heavily favor a CFP spot — with only the Iron Bowl at Auburn remaining; ESPN Research gives Alabama a 71% chance to reach Atlanta. Georgia has finished SEC play but would lose a tiebreaker to Alabama. If Texas A&M beats Texas next weekend, the Aggies would clinch an SEC spot.
Key upcoming implications: Ohio State and Indiana remain well-positioned for CFP berths in the Big Ten; a major game this weekend with CFP implications is No. 15 USC at No. 7 Oregon. In the Big 12, Texas Tech and BYU are the only teams with one conference loss and would meet for the title if they win out.
The final CFP rankings will be announced Dec. 7, after the conference championships. First-round games will be hosted by the higher seeds on Dec. 19-20. Quarterfinals will be played at the Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31), Orange Bowl (Jan. 1), Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) and Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1). Semifinals are scheduled for the Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and 9, and the CFP National Championship is Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
