By Andrea Adelson
Nov. 18, 2025
The College Football Playoff committee left the top three unchanged Tuesday, keeping Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M in the 1-2-3 spots. Alabama tumbled six places to No. 10 after its loss to Oklahoma, while Georgia — beaten by Alabama in September — moved up to No. 4. Oklahoma’s 23-21 victory in Tuscaloosa also helped push Texas Tech to No. 5, Ole Miss to No. 6 and Oregon to No. 7, with the Sooners landing at No. 8.
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 moved up two spots to No. 13 after a 41-7 win over NC State but remains behind Notre Dame by four places despite beating the Irish 27-24 in the season opener — a discrepancy that has drawn criticism in the ACC. Miami coach Mario Cristobal reiterated this week that head-to-head results are the primary criterion, saying that on-field outcomes should be the most important factor. New selection committee chair and Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek said the panel hasn’t fully compared Miami and Notre Dame yet but conceded head-to-head would be a meaningful data point if the teams wind up in similar tiers. The committee noted that Notre Dame’s losses were close games against ranked opponents (Miami and Texas A&M), while Miami’s setbacks were to unranked Louisville and SMU.
Texas suffered a big fall, dropping seven spots to No. 17 after a 35-10 loss to Georgia left the Longhorns at 7-3 and behind No. 16 Georgia Tech. Michigan sits at No. 18, Virginia at No. 19 and Tennessee moved up to No. 20. Completing the top 25 are Illinois, Missouri, Houston, Tulane and Arizona State.
Under this season’s 12-team CFP format, the five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic berths, and the committee is using straight seeding: the top four teams in the final rankings, regardless of conference, will receive first-round byes. If the field were set today, first-round matchups would be: Tulane at Texas Tech; Miami at Ole Miss; Alabama at Oregon; and Notre Dame at Oklahoma.
The ACC picture remains convoluted. If Georgia Tech beats Pitt this weekend and Virginia defeats Virginia Tech next week, Georgia Tech and Virginia would meet in the ACC title game and the winner would claim the conference’s automatic berth among the five highest-ranked champions. For Miami to reach the ACC championship game, the Hurricanes must win out and get several favorable results: Virginia, Georgia Tech and SMU would need to lose their remaining games, and Duke would have to drop 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: the 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 of the top 25 following its loss to Notre Dame. Tulane has taken over as the top-ranked Group of 5 team, replacing USF.
Alabama, despite sliding to No. 10, still projects well to reach the SEC title game — a win there would strongly boost its CFP chances — with only the Iron Bowl at Auburn remaining; ESPN Research estimates Alabama has a 71% chance to reach Atlanta. Georgia has completed SEC play but would lose a tiebreaker to Alabama. If Texas A&M defeats Texas next weekend, the Aggies would clinch an SEC spot.
Looking ahead, Ohio State and Indiana remain firmly positioned for Big Ten contention. A marquee matchup 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; if both win out they would meet for the league title.
The committee will release its final rankings Dec. 7 after conference championship weekend. First-round games are scheduled for Dec. 19-20 at the higher seeds’ campuses. 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 set for the Fiesta Bowl and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, and the College Football Playoff National Championship is slated for Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
