Miami is No. 1 in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s first ranking of the 2026 season, released Tuesday night. The 8-0 Hurricanes are followed by Georgia (7-1), Utah (8-0), Indiana (8-1) and Alabama (6-2).
Kentucky (7-1), Texas (6-2), UCLA (8-0), BYU (7-1), Ole Miss (6-2), Notre Dame (7-1) and Ohio State (6-2) complete the top 12.
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The playoff takes 12 teams, and five conference champions are guaranteed spots. In a bracket built from Tuesday’s ranking, No. 25 Boise State (7-1), the only Group of 6 team in the top 25, would take the 12th seed in place of Ohio State, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported. Miami, Georgia, Utah and Indiana would receive first-round byes.
That bracket would open with Boise State at Alabama, BYU at UCLA, Notre Dame at Kentucky and Ole Miss at Texas. First-round games are played Dec. 18 and 19 on the higher seed’s campus.
Committee chair Hunter Yurachek pointed to the parity of the season so far and said the committee expects significant movement throughout the top 25 in the coming weeks.
Indiana’s place in the top four came despite a 19-15 home loss to Ohio State on Oct. 17. The Hoosiers’ last three wins were by seven points or fewer, the last two in overtime against Michigan and Minnesota. Alabama, fifth, lost to Georgia and at Tennessee in October; Yurachek said its head-to-head win over Kentucky, 45-17 on Sept. 12, put it ahead of the Wildcats.
Notre Dame, No. 4 in this week’s AP poll, landed at No. 11, and Yurachek said the Fighting Irish do not yet have a signature win. Ohio State is 12th after a 30-18 loss at USC on Oct. 31, its first game without injured quarterback Julian Sayin, according to ESPN.
The rest of the top 25: No. 13 Tennessee, No. 14 LSU, No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 16 Wake Forest, No. 17 Houston, No. 18 Missouri, No. 19 Iowa, No. 20 USC, No. 21 South Carolina, No. 22 Arizona, No. 23 Oregon, No. 24 Florida and No. 25 Boise State.
The SEC has five teams in the top 12, the Big Ten three and the Big 12 two.
Seven games this Saturday match teams from the top 25: No. 9 BYU at No. 3 Utah, No. 7 Texas at No. 18 Missouri, No. 5 Alabama at No. 14 LSU, No. 23 Oregon at No. 12 Ohio State, No. 6 Kentucky at No. 13 Tennessee, No. 1 Miami at No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 2 Georgia at No. 10 Ole Miss.
The committee will release a new ranking every Tuesday, with the final ranking on Sunday, Dec. 6. The quarterfinals are Dec. 30 and Jan. 1 at the Fiesta, Cotton, Rose and Peach bowls, the semifinals Jan. 14 and 15 at the Orange and Sugar bowls, and the national championship Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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