The College Football Playoff selection committee released its second set of rankings on November 11, 2025, and the top five teams remain unchanged. Ohio State holds the No. 1 position, followed closely by Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Georgia.
The rankings continue with Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, and BYU making up the rest of the top twelve. With five conference champions guaranteed a spot in the 12-team playoff, No. 24 South Florida, the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five, would replace BYU as the 12th seed, while Miami, projected to be the ACC champion, would take Oklahoma”s place.
If the current rankings were utilized, the Buckeyes, Hoosiers, Aggies, and Crimson Tide would earn first-round byes. The first-round matchups would feature South Florida facing Georgia, Miami against Texas Tech, Texas squaring off with Ole Miss, and Notre Dame meeting Oregon.
The SEC leads the rankings with six teams in the top twelve, while the Big Ten has three teams and the Big 12 contributes two. The ACC has five representatives in the top 25, yet none are ranked higher than 15th. South Florida stands out as the only Group of Five conference team in the top 25.
The selection committee opted not to penalize the undefeated Hoosiers, who secured a thrilling 27-24 comeback win against struggling Penn State last week, thanks to a 7-yard touchdown pass from Fernando Mendoza to Omar Cooper Jr. with just 36 seconds remaining. The Nittany Lions are currently on a six-game losing streak and recently dismissed their head coach, James Franklin, on October 12.
Texas A&M maintained its No. 3 ranking after a decisive 38-17 victory over another ranked opponent on the road at Missouri. Earlier this season, the Aggies also managed a close 41-40 win against Notre Dame.
Texas Tech advanced two spots in the rankings, surpassing Ole Miss after a dominant defensive display in their 29-7 win against BYU, which fell five spots following its first loss of the season.
Utah holds the 13th position in the committee”s rankings, followed by Vanderbilt, Miami, Georgia Tech, USC, Michigan, Virginia, and Louisville. Both the Cavaliers and the Cardinals dropped five spots after last week”s defeats. Despite having two losses in conference play, the Hurricanes remain the highest-ranked team from the ACC.
Five teams in the ACC, including Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, SMU, and Duke, possess only one loss in conference play, meaning Miami will need assistance to reach the ACC championship game.
The rankings are rounded out by Iowa, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, South Florida, and Cincinnati, which are all making their presence felt as the season progresses.
This week marked the first entry for both South Florida and Cincinnati into the rankings, while Missouri and Washington dropped out following last week”s losses. The first-round playoff games are scheduled to occur at the home stadiums of the higher-seeded teams on December 19 and 20.
The quarterfinals will unfold at prestigious venues including the Cotton Bowl Classic, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential, and Allstate Sugar Bowl on December 31 and January 1. Semifinal action is set for January 8 and 9 at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The CFP National Championship, presented by AT&T, is slated for January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
