The College Football Playoff selection committee released its first top 25 of the 2026 season on Tuesday, November 3, and placed Miami at the top of it. The Hurricanes, 8-0, are one of three unbeaten teams left in the Football Bowl Subdivision and the only Atlantic Coast Conference program among the dozen that would make the bracket.
Georgia, 7-1, came in second, Utah, 8-0, third, and Indiana, the defending national champion at 8-1, fourth. In the 12-team format those four teams open the playoff with first-round byes, and they keep them regardless of how the conference championship games go.
The committee's opening top 25
- Miami (Fla.), 8-0
- Georgia, 7-1
- Utah, 8-0
- Indiana, 8-1
- Alabama, 6-2
- Kentucky, 7-1
- Texas, 6-2
- UCLA, 8-0
- BYU, 7-1
- Ole Miss, 6-2
- Notre Dame, 7-1
- Ohio State, 6-2
- Tennessee, 6-2
- LSU, 6-2
- Texas Tech, 7-1
- Wake Forest, 7-1
- Houston, 6-2
- Missouri, 6-2
- Iowa, 6-2
- Southern California, 7-2
- South Carolina, 5-3
- Arizona, 6-2
- Oregon, 5-3
- Florida, 5-3
- Boise State, 7-1
Why No. 12 in the rankings is not No. 12 in the bracket
The field reserves a place for the best-placed team from the Group of Six conferences, and that is Boise State, 7-1, ranked 25th. Taking that bid as the No. 12 seed lines the Broncos up against No. 5 Alabama in the first round.
The consequence is arithmetic rather than judgment: one spot in the bracket is spoken for before the rankings are read down, so the cut falls at the 11th-ranked team. Ohio State and Tennessee, 12th and 13th on the list, are the first two teams outside the field.
By conference, a bracket built on these rankings would hold five Southeastern Conference teams, two from the Big Ten, two from the Big 12, one from the ACC, Notre Dame as an independent and Boise State.
Depth and a single loss
The SEC put 10 teams in the 25, the most of any conference, and the Big Ten six. Georgia's only defeat of the season came against Auburn, a team that was unranked at the time — a result that cost the Bulldogs the top line but not, in the committee's reading, the second.
Three of the top eight are still unbeaten: Miami, Utah and UCLA, the last of which is the highest-placed Big Ten team after the defending champion.
What comes next
The committee publishes six sets of rankings over the course of the season. The ones released on November 3 are the first and carry no formal weight on their own; the field is announced on Sunday, December 6.
Reporting from NCAA.com and Fox Sports.
