College football announced some seismic changes this week when it comes to the future format of the highly popular 12-team College Football Playoff. Come 2027, 12 teams will become 24 teams, as the CFP and ESPN announced a major television deal on Tuesday to double the number of teams (and practically double the TV inventory) in the CFP. $1.75 billion will make people sign up for crazy things, and the CFP is about to get even crazier.
The format is simple — the four champions of the Power Four conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big XII, SEC) automatically qualify, as does the highest ranked Group of Six team. The other 19 spots will be at-large and determined by the selection committee, so we will still get all of the debate, discussion, anger and vitriol that comes from (often slipshod) decisions made by a roomful of human beings. The real anger just gets pushed down to Teams 20 through 30, instead of teams 10 through 15.
For those who enjoy the made-for-TV aspect of the road to the ultimate bracket reveal, you can rejoice in knowing that the CFP still plans on doing its weekly unveiling of the brackets in real time, typically reserved for Tuesday nights! Personally, this is one of my favorite parts of the process — tuning in each week to see meathead oaf Selection Committee Chair (and Arkansas AD) Hunter Yuracek explain the nonsensical decisions of his merry band of morons.
Last night, we got our second edition of the 2026 CFP rankings revealed, and this is on the heels of formerly 11th-ranked Notre Dame knocking off formerly top-ranked Miami at home over the weekend. For the fifth straight weekend, we’ve seen a number one or number two ranked team (in the AP poll) knocked off. This season has been crazy! So, here are the latest CFP rankings, with a few thoughts below:
- Georgia, 8-1
- Utah, 9-0
- Alabama, 7-2
- UCLA, 9-0
- Notre Dame, 8-1
- Texas, 7-2
- Miami, 8-1
- Tennessee, 7-2
- Indiana, 8-1
- BYU, 7-2
- Kentucky, 7-2
- Texas Tech, 8-1
- Wake Forest, 8-1
- Houston, 7-2
- Iowa, 7-2
- Oregon, 6-3
- South Carolina, 6-3
- USC, 7-2
- Ole Miss, 7-3
- Ohio State, 6-3
- LSU, 6-3
- Missouri, 7-2
- Arizona, 7-2
- Boise State, 8-1
- Oklahoma State, 6-3
Okay, a few thoughts on these rankings:
Well, we now know the impact of that Notre Dame win over Miami
The College Football Playoff selection committee had one of their most absurd early rankings in the history of the playoff last week, putting Notre Dame, who was a top five team in virtually every ranking out there, was ranked 11th, with the committee saying the Irish needed a “signature win.” Beating the top ranked team in the country was good enough to move the Irish up to 5th, which is probably a tick or two too low, in my opinion. Miami slid all the way to 7th. Right now, if the standings held up this way, both Notre Dame and Miami would host a first round playoff game.
Steve Sarkisian is proof of how quickly a head coach can go from embattled to emboldened
Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian opened October with back to back losses to Oklahoma and Florida, both horrific losses for a handful of reasons, and Sarkisian was soaring up the “first head coach fired” odds board. Now, here we are, one month later, and the Longhorns, on the heels of multiple wins over ranked foes, including Ole Miss and Missouri the last few weeks, are ranked sixth overall, and ascending. Proof positive that winning is the ultimate deodorant.
There is nary a hint of Group of Six interloping
Every season, it seems as though you can count on a few teams outside of the Power Four conferences lurking at the back end of the Top 25. Hell, last season, two non-Power Four teams actually made the playoff with Tulane and James Madison making the field. This season, there is very little Group of Six interloping going on. Boise State, repping the PAC-12, which is no longer a Power Four conferences lurking, sits at 24th and would make it as the highest ranked Group of Six school, but there aren’t any other Group of Six schools that are even hanging around the Top 25 at this point.
Can the Coogs get in the mix?
The Coogs had a nice win at home on Saturday against a frisky Cincinnati team, and as a result, they made a nice move up the board, moving up three spots from 17th to 14th. The Coogs have three games remaining on the schedule — road games at Colorado and West Virginia, and a home finale against Baylor. That three game stretch doesn’t really help the “strength of schedule” metric, so Houston will probably need a ton of help in front of them to get near the top ten.
