The second College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season arrived on Tuesday night, and the committee wasted no time shaking up the top. Georgia climbed to No. 1, Miami tumbled out of the top five, and Notre Dame made the biggest one-week jump into the top five in the history of these rankings. The list, released on ESPN and covering games played through Saturday, November 7, also pushed Ohio State down to No. 20 and lifted Tennessee into the projected playoff field. It played out much as our rankings preview expected at the top, with a few big surprises behind Georgia.
The full Top 25
Here is the committee’s complete second ranking of the season, with last week’s position for every team.
| Rank | Team | Record | Last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 8-1 | 2 |
| 2 | Utah | 9-0 | 3 |
| 3 | Alabama | 7-2 | 6 |
| 4 | UCLA | 9-0 | 8 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 8-1 | 11 |
| 6 | Texas | 8-1 | 4 |
| 7 | Miami | 8-1 | 1 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 8-1 | 13 |
| 9 | Indiana | 8-1 | 4 |
| 10 | BYU | 8-1 | 7 |
| 11 | Kentucky | 8-1 | 6 |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 8-1 | 15 |
| 13 | Wake Forest | 8-1 | 16 |
| 14 | Houston | 8-1 | 17 |
| 15 | Florida State | 7-2 | 10 |
| 16 | Oregon | 7-2 | 23 |
| 17 | Georgia Tech | 8-1 | 12 |
| 18 | Arizona State | 7-2 | 9 |
| 19 | Ole Miss | 7-2 | 10 |
| 20 | Ohio State | 6-3 | 12 |
| 21 | LSU | 6-3 | 14 |
| 22 | Missouri | 6-3 | 17 |
| 23 | Arizona | 7-2 | 8 |
| 24 | Boise State | 8-1 | 18 |
| 25 | Oklahoma State | 6-3 | Not ranked |
Georgia leads a brand new top four
Georgia (8-1) takes over at No. 1 after routing Ole Miss 42-7 on Saturday. It is the Bulldogs’ 16th week at No. 1 in the playoff era, second only to Alabama’s 24, according to the committee. Utah (9-0) rose to No. 2, the highest ranking in program history, after holding off BYU 28-20 in the Holy War. Alabama (7-2) jumped to No. 3 after a 31-13 win at LSU, and the committee noted it is the earliest a two-loss team has ever sat in the top four. UCLA (9-0) climbed four spots to No. 4, also a program best. Utah and UCLA are the only undefeated teams left in the FBS, and as the list stands, those four teams would take the first round byes.
Notre Dame’s record jump leads the risers
The night’s biggest story is Notre Dame (8-1), which jumped six spots from No. 11 to No. 5 after beating Miami 31-24 on Saturday. The committee said the Irish are the first team ever to jump from outside the top 10 into the top five in a single week. Miami paid for that loss, falling six spots from No. 1 to No. 7. Oregon was the week’s biggest riser overall, up seven places to No. 16 after its 41-28 win over Ohio State. Tennessee climbed five spots to No. 8 on the strength of its 34-6 win over Kentucky, moving from the edge of the field into the projected bracket. Texas Tech, Wake Forest and Houston each rose three spots, and Houston’s No. 14 ranking is the best in program history.
Ohio State and Ole Miss take the hardest falls
Ole Miss dropped nine spots, the most of any team, down to No. 19 after its heavy loss at Georgia. Ohio State fell eight spots to No. 20. The Buckeyes are 6-3, and a team that started the month near the top of the polls now sits far outside the projected field with almost no margin left. LSU slid seven spots to No. 21 after losing at home to Alabama. Indiana fell five places to No. 9 without playing a game, dropping on its bye week, and Kentucky also fell five spots, to No. 11, after the Tennessee loss. Florida dropped out of the Top 25 entirely. Oklahoma State took its place at No. 25, the Cowboys’ first appearance in the rankings since 2023.
What the playoff field would look like today
The 12-team field takes the five highest ranked conference champions and the seven highest ranked teams after them, with the top four seeds earning first round byes. Projecting each league’s highest ranked team as its champion, the automatic bids would go to Georgia (SEC), Utah (Big 12), UCLA (Big Ten), Miami (ACC) and Boise State, which at No. 24 is the highest ranked Group of Six team. The at-large spots would go to Alabama, Notre Dame, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, BYU and Kentucky. The seeds would line up with Georgia, Utah, Alabama and UCLA resting on byes, then four campus games: Boise State at Notre Dame, Kentucky at Texas, BYU at Miami and Indiana at Tennessee. The cruel spot belongs to Texas Tech: the Red Raiders are ranked No. 12, but Boise State’s automatic bid would push them out, leaving Texas Tech and Wake Forest as the first two teams out. Nine SEC teams sit in the Top 25, and five of them are in the projected field. The committee releases its third rankings on Tuesday, November 17, and the final field is set on Sunday, December 6. Follow every move the rest of the way in our Sports coverage.
Sources: College Football Playoff selection committee official rankings release, November 10, 2026; 247Sports and Saturday Down South bracket projections; Reuters and Associated Press game reports.