A controversial conclusion to the 2025 college football season came amid the release of the final College Football Playoff Rankings, which was announced on Selection Sunday after the CFP Selection Committee named the 12-team field that will compete for the 2026 national championship. Indiana overtaking Ohio State for the No. 1 spot may have been surprising — the Hoosiers are atop the college football world for the first time in program history — but decisions further down the rankings have coaches, players, fans and experts questioning the process.
Joining Indiana and Ohio State (No. 2) in the top four are Georgia (No. 3) and Texas Tech (No. 4) with all four teams receiving first-round byes. The Buckeyes stayed ahead of the Bulldogs despite losing the Big Ten Championship Game, while the Red Raiders cemented their first playoff appearance on the back of a dominant Big 12 Championship Game showing.
Ohio State now has a chance to defend its national title, making its seventh playoff appearance in 12 years of the postseason bracket’s existence (2014, 2016, 2019-20, 2022, 2024).
Miami (FL), despite entering the final week two spots below Notre Dame in the penultimate rankings, jumped the Fighting Irish following a conference championship weekend in which neither team participated. Alabama, which lost by 21 points to Georgia, stayed ahead of both teams, becoming the first three-loss team to ever qualify for the CFP.
By virtue of five-loss Duke beating Virginia in the ACC Championship Game, that league became the first Power Four conference not to see its champion qualify for the 12-team CFP field. Instead, American winner Tulane and Sun Belt winner James Madison took the final two playoff spots as the five highest-ranked conference title winners receive automatic playoff berths.
Let’s take a look at the final CFP Rankings of the 2025 season. Check out the complete 2025-26 College Football Playoff bracket, along with all the first-round matchups now set with a national champion set to be crowned in a matter of weeks.
College Football Playoff Rankings, Dec. 7
* First-round bye | ~ First-round host | ^ Highest-ranked conference champions
- Indiana (13-0) *^
- Ohio State (12-1) *
- Georgia (12-1) *^
- Texas Tech (12-1) *^
- Oregon (11-1) ~
- Ole Miss (11-1) ~
- Texas A&M (11-1) ~
- Oklahoma (10-2) ~
- Alabama (10-3)
- Miami (FL) (10-2)
- Notre Dame (10-2)
- BYU (11-2)
- Texas (9-3)
- Vanderbilt (10-2)
- Utah (10-2)
- USC (9-3)
- Arizona (9-3)
- Michigan (9-3)
- Virginia (10-3)
- Tulane (11-2) ^ | No. 11 seed
- Houston (9-3)
- Georgia Tech (9-3)
- Iowa (8-4)
- James Madison (12-1) ^ | No. 12 seed
- North Texas (11-2)
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