First CFP Rankings: Miami on Top, Notre Dame Slips to No. 11
The College Football Playoff selection committee released its first rankings of the 2026 season on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Miami (8-0) sits at No. 1, ahead of Georgia, Utah and Indiana, the four teams that would earn first-round byes if the season ended today. Behind that group, the committee has already sent clear signals: two-loss Alabama climbs to No. 5, Notre Dame sits only 11th, and Ohio State, at No. 12, would be the first team left out.
Miami on top, with only three unbeatens left
The committee's choice at No. 1 comes as no surprise. Miami is the only team with eight wins and no losses that already held the top spot in the AP poll. Its offense runs through a pairing the country has come to know well: quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney, both mentioned among the Heisman Trophy contenders.
The perfect record still hides some close calls. On Oct. 17, the Hurricanes needed two overtimes to get past Florida State, 43-35, on a Mensah touchdown pass to Toney. On Oct. 31 in Chapel Hill, they barely held on against North Carolina, 38-35. The committee rewarded the results more than the style, which fits its approach: at this stage, an unbeaten team from a major conference starts with an edge.
Georgia (7-1) follows at No. 2, ahead of Utah (8-0) and Indiana (8-1). The Big 12's Utes join Miami and Bob Chesney's UCLA (8-0, No. 8) as the last three unbeaten teams in the Top 25. Indiana, the defending national champion after beating Miami in the title game last January, rounds out the top four despite one loss.
That top four matters more than it did in 2024. Since 2025, the top four spots in the final rankings have produced the top four seeds and the first-round byes, whether or not a team has won its conference. Being in the top four in early December is therefore worth one fewer game and a direct path to the quarterfinals.
Notre Dame and Ohio State on the edge
The most debated decision concerns Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish (7-1) are fourth in the AP poll, but the committee places them 11th, seven spots lower. Their only loss came on Oct. 17 in Provo, where BYU won 28-24 after stopping a final Irish push near its goal line. In the committee's eyes, the issue has less to do with that loss than with the quality of the teams Notre Dame has beaten so far.
Committee chair Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at Arkansas, acknowledged the quality of Marcus Freeman's team while pointing to the lack of a signature win on its résumé. The message is clear, and it revives a bad memory in South Bend: in December 2025, Notre Dame was passed by Miami in the final rankings and left out of the playoff.
There is one major difference this year. The 2026 format guarantees Notre Dame a spot if it finishes in the top 12 of the final rankings. At No. 11, the Irish are in the bracket, but with no margin at all. Their next opponent is none other than Miami, on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Notre Dame Stadium. In 2025, the Hurricanes won 27-24 in the season opener. A win would finally give the Irish the marquee victory they lack; a loss would likely drop them out of the top 12.
Ohio State is in an even more uncomfortable position. The Buckeyes (6-2) are 12th, but that is not enough: because of the reserved spots, they would be the first team out. Their 30-18 loss at USC on Oct. 31, their second of the season, weighed heavily. Oregon visits Columbus on Saturday with a chance to make their path even harder.
Alabama, the SEC and the spot reserved for Boise State
Alabama (6-2) is the other surprise of these first rankings. Despite two losses, the Crimson Tide land at No. 5, ahead of Kentucky (7-1), Texas (6-2) and unbeaten UCLA. The committee appears to have valued schedule strength and the quality of the teams beaten over the raw number of losses.
The SEC is the big winner of this first snapshot: ten of its teams are in the Top 25, five of them in the top 12 (Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas and Ole Miss). The Big Ten has six, the Big 12 five and the ACC only two, Miami and Wake Forest (No. 16).
The 2026 format also reserves automatic bids for the champions of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, plus the highest-ranked team from the other six FBS conferences. Right now, that ticket belongs to Boise State (7-1), ranked 25th and the only team from those conferences in the rankings. The Pac-12's Broncos would enter as the No. 12 seed, which pushes Ohio State out of the bracket.
If the bracket were frozen tonight, the first round would be played on the campuses of the higher seeds: Boise State at Alabama, Notre Dame at Kentucky, Ole Miss at Texas and BYU at UCLA. Miami, Georgia, Utah and Indiana would wait in the quarterfinals.
One Saturday to redraw the map
These first rankings will have a very short shelf life. The Nov. 7 weekend puts several top-12 spots on the line. At Notre Dame Stadium, Miami can tighten its grip on No. 1 or reopen the race. In Salt Lake City, Utah hosts BYU at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the Holy War, a meeting of two top-10 teams. A Utah loss would open a spot in the top four; a BYU loss would push the Big 12 down in the conference pecking order.
Georgia, meanwhile, travels to Oxford to face No. 10 Ole Miss. The two teams met in a playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl last January, and this rematch will bear directly on the race for a bye.
The committee's calendar is now set. New rankings will be released every Tuesday through Dec. 1, and the final rankings and the 12-team bracket will be unveiled on Sunday, Dec. 6, after the conference championship games.
In our reading, these first rankings say two things above all. First, the committee will not settle for records alone: Alabama benefits, Notre Dame pays the price. Second, the gap between No. 11 and No. 13 will remain razor-thin to the end, because the automatic bid for the best team outside the four major conferences takes a spot away from contenders without a title. For Notre Dame and Ohio State, the answer is the same: win, and do it against ranked teams. Both will get that chance on Saturday.
For the teams in the chasing pack, from Tennessee to LSU by way of Texas Tech and Houston, nothing is settled either. The conference championship games will offer one last argument to those who reach them, and a lower-ranked Big 12 or ACC champion would take its place among the 12 at the expense of a two-loss team. The next five weeks look less like a confirmation than a round of eliminations before the playoff itself.
