College Football Rankings Today: Penultimate CFP Top 25 Locks In No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, With Georgia and Texas Tech Grabbing Bye Lines

The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings arrived Tuesday night, setting the board for Championship Weekend and giving fans the clearest preview yet of the inaugural 12-team bracket. With one set of results left to count, the committee held firm at the top and shuffled the crowded middle—moves that could determine who hosts in the First Round and who sweats the bubble on Selection Sunday (Dec. 7).

The headline: four bye positions set—for now

The committee kept Ohio State at No. 1 and Indiana at No. 2, rewarding perfect records and résumé depth entering the Big Ten title game. Georgia climbed to No. 3, while Texas Tech sits No. 4, completing the quartet currently positioned for first-round byes. That order matters: seed lines dictate quarterfinal bowl placement and potential semifinal paths.

Just outside the bye cut, the jockeying is fierce. Ole Miss rose to No. 6, while Texas A&M slid to No. 7 after a rivalry stumble that reopened the door for others to host a First-Round game. Alabama nudged upward into the top ten at No. 9, and Notre Dame slipped to No. 10, hanging onto the last projected at-large bid—both still very much alive but with little margin if chaos hits on Saturday.

New faces and the Group-of-Six picture

Two fresh names appeared: North Texas at No. 24 and James Madison at No. 25—both 11–1. Their rise, coupled with Tulane pushing to No. 20, keeps alive the possibility that multiple non-power-league champions crowd the auto-bid conversation. Remember: in the 12-team format, the five highest-ranked conference champions are automatic qualifiers, no matter how many bluebloods stack up just behind them.

What these CFP rankings mean for the 12-team bracket

• Seeds 1–4: If the current top four hold, they skip the First Round and await quarterfinal assignments on New Year’s.

• Seeds 5–8 host: The middle tier is where the weekend will bite. Flips anywhere between Nos. 5–8 and Nos. 9–12 can redraw travel maps, weather edges, and ticket allotments in a hurry.

• At-large squeeze: With one or two surprise champions still possible, a favored at-large could get pushed to the wrong side of the cut line despite a top-12 résumé.

Based on Tuesday’s order, potential First-Round pairings surfaced that would pit Notre Dame against Texas A&M and Alabama against Oklahoma—enticing style clashes that could shift if favorites either cruise or collapse on Championship Saturday.

The five questions that will decide Sunday’s bracket

1. Can the top two stay perfect? If either Ohio State or Indiana slips, the bye lines scramble and a league-title tiebreak ripples through quarterfinal placements.

2. Does Georgia lock No. 3—or climb higher? A statement win could nudge the Bulldogs’ path to a friendlier quarterfinal bowl.

3. Who hosts at 5–8? Ole Miss is positioned well; A&M needs help. Any upset above them reshuffles home-field rights.

4. Which champion seals the last auto-bid? Tulane leads that chase today, but North Texas and James Madison entering the poll raises the stakes if results break oddly.

5. Is there a true bubble burst? One unexpected champion can turn a comfortable No. 10–12 at-large into a flight to the NIT… of bowl season.

AP/Coaches vs. CFP: why differences persist

Computer-light but résumé-heavy, the committee’s list often diverges from media and coaches polls that bake in preseason priors and brand gravity. The CFP Top 25 is the only ranking that seeds the bracket, and Tuesday’s release made clear the committee is prioritizing wins over ranked teams, conference title paths, and player availability down the stretch.

Key dates and times

• Championship Saturday: all day this weekend; injuries and late swings matter for seeding context.

• Selection Show: Sunday, Dec. 7 (12–3 p.m. ET)—full bracket, byes, hosts, quarterfinal bowls revealed.

• First Round (campus sites): Dec. 19–20.

• Quarterfinals (New Year’s bowls): Dec. 31–Jan. 1.

• Semifinals: Jan. 8–9.

• National Championship: Jan. 19.

The college football rankings entering Championship Weekend place the heavyweights where they want to be—on bye lines and in control of their fates—while leaving the middle seeded tier one upset away from a map redraw. If the chalk holds, expect familiar helmets at home in the First Round. If it doesn’t, Sunday’s bracket could feature a very cold road game for a very warm-weather favorite—and a playoff debut that looks nothing like the preseason imagined.