One week after Miami opened at No. 1, the Hurricanes are down to No. 7. Notre Dame beat them 31-24 on Saturday night, and the selection committee moved Georgia to the top of its second rankings of the season. Here is my Week 1 rankings post if you want to compare.
The Committee’s Top 12
| Rank | Team | Record | Last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 8-1 | 2 |
| 2 | Utah | 9-0 | 3 |
| 3 | Alabama | 7-2 | 5 |
| 4 | UCLA | 9-0 | 8 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 8-1 | 11 |
| 6 | Texas | 7-2 | 7 |
| 7 | Miami | 8-1 | 1 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 7-2 | 13 |
| 9 | Indiana | 8-1 | 4 |
| 10 | BYU | 7-2 | 9 |
| 11 | Kentucky | 7-2 | 6 |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 8-1 | 15 |
The rest of the Top 25: 13. Wake Forest, 14. Houston, 15. Iowa, 16. Oregon, 17. South Carolina, 18. USC, 19. Ole Miss, 20. Ohio State, 21. LSU, 22. Missouri, 23. Arizona, 24. Boise State, 25. Oklahoma State.
Biggest Surprises
- Indiana fell five spots on a bye week. The Hoosiers didn’t play and still dropped from No. 4 to No. 9, passed by teams that won big games on Saturday.
- Notre Dame jumped six spots. Beating the No. 1 team moved the Irish from No. 11 to No. 5.
- Miami only fell to No. 7. After its first loss, the Hurricanes are still in position to host a first-round game.
- Ohio State is now No. 20. The Buckeyes lost 41-28 at Oregon and fell eight spots, from No. 12 to No. 20. Oregon jumped from No. 23 to No. 16.
- Oklahoma State is in at No. 25, and Florida dropped out after losing 23-7 at home to Oklahoma.
Saturday’s Results That Mattered
- No. 5 Notre Dame 31, No. 7 Miami 24: The Irish handed the No. 1 team its first loss.
- No. 1 Georgia 42, No. 19 Ole Miss 7: A blowout on the road in Oxford.
- No. 2 Utah 28, No. 10 BYU 20: Utah stayed unbeaten in the Holy War.
- No. 3 Alabama 31, No. 21 LSU 13: The Tide are the highest-ranked two-loss team again.
- No. 8 Tennessee 34, No. 11 Kentucky 6: The Vols jumped five spots.
- No. 16 Oregon 41, No. 20 Ohio State 28: The Ducks knocked the Buckeyes out of the field.
- No. 12 Texas Tech 53, West Virginia 48: A shootout in Lubbock.
If the Season Ended Today
The top four seeds get first-round byes. Utah would get the Big 12’s automatic bid, UCLA the Big Ten’s, Georgia the SEC’s and Miami the ACC’s. Boise State, at No. 24, is the highest-ranked Group of Six team, so the Broncos would get the last spot. That pushes No. 12 Texas Tech out as the first team out. Notre Dame is in as an independent because it’s in the top 12.
First-round byes: No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Utah, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 UCLA
First round (at the higher seed):
- No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Notre Dame
- No. 11 Kentucky at No. 6 Texas
- No. 10 BYU at No. 7 Miami
- No. 9 Indiana at No. 8 Tennessee
Breaking: The Playoff Goes to 24 Teams in 2027
On Monday, the College Football Playoff announced that the field will double from 12 to 24 teams starting next season. Here is how it will work:
- Five automatic bids: The champions of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC, plus the highest-ranked champion from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt. The other 19 spots are at-large.
- Eight byes: Seeds 1-8 get a first-round bye and then host a second-round game on campus.
- More campus games: Seeds 9-16 host seeds 17-24 in the first round. That makes 16 on-campus games, up from four.
- The bowls stay in: The quarterfinals and semifinals stay in the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar Bowls.
- New title game sites: This season’s championship is in Las Vegas on Jan. 25, 2027. The first 24-team title game will be in New Orleans on Jan. 24, 2028, followed by Tampa on Jan. 22, 2029.
- No more Power Four title games: The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC have said their conference championship games will end. The first week of December will become an off week for playoff teams, along with the Army-Navy game and the Heisman presentation.
- The money: ESPN keeps the rights. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the network will pay about $345 million more per year, or roughly $1.7 billion over five years, for the bigger field.
My Take
If the 24-team format were in place this year, the field would be exactly this week’s Top 24. All four Power Four leaders and Boise State are inside the top 24, so no automatic bid would bump anybody. No. 25 Oklahoma State would be the first team out. Ohio State, LSU and Ole Miss would all be in, even with three losses.
Losing the SEC Championship Game is a big change for fans in the South. That game has been played in Atlanta every year since 1994, first at the Georgia Dome and now at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Games to Watch This Saturday
All times Central.
- No. 22 Missouri at No. 1 Georgia, 2:30 p.m., ABC. The new No. 1 opens at home against a ranked SEC team.
- No. 18 USC at No. 9 Indiana, 2:30 p.m., CBS. Indiana gets a chance to answer its drop.
- No. 2 Utah at No. 23 Arizona, 6:30 p.m., FOX. Utah’s unbeaten season goes on the road.
- No. 6 Texas at No. 21 LSU, 6:30 p.m., ABC. Night game in Death Valley.
- No. 12 Texas Tech at No. 25 Oklahoma State, 8:30 p.m., ESPN. The first team out plays the newest team in.
Also worth watching: No. 4 UCLA hosts Illinois on Friday night (8 p.m., FOX), No. 7 Miami hosts Duke (11 a.m., ABC), and No. 8 Tennessee visits Texas A&M (2 p.m., ESPN).
My Pick of the Week: Texas at LSU. Both teams need it, and it is a night game in Baton Rouge.
Photo: G-Day at Sanford Stadium, April 2026, by BullDawg2021, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Leave a Reply