We’re in November now, which sadly means that the regular season of college football only has four weeks left, counting this week. We’re at a point where there’s “a lot of football left to be played” and not much room left for losing (no room for some teams). With that said, the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season have been revealed by the CFP selection committee and there’s some eyebrow-raising decisions that have been made.
It’s important to take the first CFP rankings for what they are, which is nothing more than a baseline to get the committee working. We can see where their heads are at, at this moment, but ultimately there’s no reason for anyone to get worked up over the initial rankings.
So let’s look at the Top 25 from the First CFP Rankings of 2026:
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 8–0 |
| 2 | Georgia | 7–1 |
| 3 | Utah | 8–0 |
| 4 | Indiana | 8–1 |
| 5 | Alabama | 6–2 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 7–1 |
| 7 | Texas | 6–2 |
| 8 | UCLA | 8–0 |
| 9 | BYU | 7–1 |
| 10 | Ole Miss | 6–2 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 7–1 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 6–2 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 6–2 |
| 14 | LSU | 6–2 |
| 15 | Texas Tech | 7–1 |
| 16 | Wake Forest | 7–1 |
| 17 | Houston | 6–2 |
| 18 | Missouri | 6–2 |
| 19 | Iowa | 6–2 |
| 20 | USC | 7–2 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 5–3 |
| 22 | Arizona | 6–2 |
| 23 | Oregon | 5–3 |
| 24 | Florida | 5–3 |
| 25 | Boise State | 7–1 |
First things first, I think pretty much everyone can agree that there’s no controversy with Miami being ranked No. 1. That’s probably the only decision that would get no complaints from anyone. Outside of that, there’s plenty here that will get people unreasonably upset for something that won’t mean much come next Tuesday.
I’ve got no complaints with Georgia being second. I understand the argument that they have a loss and Utah and UCLA don’t, I just don’t care. My judgment tells me that if Georgia plays either team they’re going to win and I think that matters.
Utah being third also gets no complaints from me. They’re undefeated and they’ve looked good.
From there though, lots of eyebrows get raised. I don’t think there’s an easy answer to any questions people have. There’s no one way to objectively rank the teams and especially not in a manner that would have nearly everyone nodding in agreement. Most of the metrics are very subjective and most people are naturally very biased one way or the other.
UCLA is undefeated sitting at No. 8 with two two-loss teams sitting ahead of them. But who have they defeated? Oregon and Wisconsin are the only teams they’ve beaten that have a winning record. And only Oregon is ranked in the top 25, sitting at 23. I think they’re fine where they’re at.
BYU is sitting right behind them at No. 9 with just one loss. They have a quality close win against Notre Dame, but a bad loss against UCF. I would actually make the case that BYU should be higher, and I’d probably put them at four. I don’t think they have an impressive resume by any means, but their loss to UCF came after their emotional win against Notre Dame. And if we excuse Georgia for losing to Auburn after the win against Alabama, and excuse Alabama for losing to Tennessee after the tough emotional loss to Georgia, then I don’t see how BYU doesn’t get the same grace. Having said that, do I think BYU would beat Alabama? No.
The stretch from four through seven is anyone’s guess. We’d be here all night trying to come up with reasons for stuff that doesn’t matter this early. The teams are where they are, and it’s all going to work itself out.
A Big Weekend Ahead
This is the first week of the CFP rankings, and while a lot of people are flipping out, I think everyone needs to pump the brakes a little. These rankings are going to look a lot different come next Tuesday. There’s a lot of big games happening this week.
We’ve got #3 Utah taking on #9 BYU. Should BYU be ranked higher this week? Perhaps, I think so, but if they win Saturday, they will be higher and if they lose, then perhaps they were where they should’ve been and will fall out.
#1 Miami battles #11 Notre Dame. Miami has looked dominant at times, but also very beatable at times, such as Saturday against North Carolina. The AP poll had Notre Dame at #4, the CFP has them at #11. Notre Dame has to finish in the top 12 to get into the playoff, and a loss against Miami is going to make that extremely difficult. You could say where they’re at now ANY loss would make it difficult for them, but if they manage to take down #1 Miami I think they buy themselves cushion for another loss providing its not a terrible one.
The SEC domination will start to work itself out as #2 Georgia travels to Oxford to take on #10 Ole Miss. #5 Alabama heads to #14 LSU, #6 Kentucky visits #13 Tennessee, and #7 Texas travels to #18 Missouri.
#12 Ohio State is on the bubble right now being the first team that would be left out of the playoffs if they were happening this week to make room for #25 Boise State. This weekend, Ohio State welcomes #23 Oregon. A loss here would knock Ohio State out of contention, assuming they didn’t find a way into the Big Ten Championship.
Smith’s Sentiment
The point being that there’s a lot of football left to be played. Teams like Alabama and Texas may be sitting at #5 and #7 now, but neither can afford to risk another loss. And that goes for some of the one-loss teams like Kentucky, BYU and Notre Dame as well.
The first College Football Ranking establishes a foundation, but the rankings of today and the rankings in five weeks will look drastically different. There’s fun to be had in arguing about them, that’s part of the fun of college football, but ultimately it’s best to remember that this week’s rankings aren’t all that important.
